Lily Moon: Mudblood Slytherin
by Jynxisruler13
Summary: Lily Moon is a Slytherin. Lily is also a Muggleborn, not that many people know that. This story covers her adventures at Hogwarts from the sorting to the end of the war. Characters may be OOC, but canon is mostly followed.
1. Sorting

I sat staring at the magnificent castle up ahead of me. It was beautiful, just like the books my parents had sent me for had described. The windows were alight with a golden glow, the stone of the structure strong and grey, and the ground lush and green even in the dark. I stared for only moments though, my need to see the other reactions surpassing my need to react.

The other students on the boat I was in were likewise mesmerized, some tried to hide it, others watched on with the awe displayed like a second skin. I heard gasps coming from the other boats, and they filled me with the belief that I wasn't the only one struck dumb by the monument before us.

I've already read everything that was on the book list, plus a few other books that I could get with my left-over cash. My parents had been generous with the money, unsure about the exchange rate or how the wizarding money worked, or just not caring; I used it to my advantage. Professor Snape, the teacher sent to my house to inform and explain about my place at Hogwarts, helped me and showed me around Diagon Ally. He was very nice to have allowed me the time he did in the bookstore. It was quite a while. Though he seemed to enjoy having the chance to look around himself.

The boats finally docked, and we made our way out of them with help from the gentle giant with the beard who hadn't introduced himself. We were led into the castle before being left alone without much of an explanation. I didn't know how to feel about that.

I watched as a boy with platinum blond hair walked over to a redhead and another boy with black hair and glasses. He seemed to be introducing himself, which was kind, though the way he did so seemed very procedurally done. I committed it to memory, it must be important for wizards to speak to and greet others in a certain way. From what I had witnessed, wizards were very traditional. It seemed to be a part of their culture and it would be rude to go against that. They obviously valued tradition and family if all the stuff about pureblood traditions in that book was to be believed.

A group of ghosts appeared out of nowhere, making an entrance by floating through the walls and shocking all of the new students. Though, I noticed a few of the students didn't seem surprised, more curious. The blond was one of them. I got the feeling these were the purebloods and half-bloods raised in the wizarding world. I too was curious. I had read about ghosts in a book about different magical creatures and beasts. Again, not one for a class.

The girl next to me was watching the others with eagle like precision. She sized everyone up before coming to me. I was already looking at her. She didn't back off. She sized me up and I did the same to her.

She was blonde with deep brown eyes. She had a pointed face and was overall very pretty, even at eleven. She was tall, but not freakishly so. Her eyes held a special kind of intelligence, one that wasn't from a book. It was practical, like she was looking for things that weren't visible on the surface, reading people with a precision you wouldn't expect in an eleven-year-old.

She was also well-off if her clothing was to be believed, they were well tailored, obviously made just for her, and her white shirt was silk and shiny. Mine wasn't much different. My family is very well off, and though I wasn't pureblood, I could definitely fit in with them. I could already tell she was a pureblood and, aside from the chilly exterior, she seemed like a nice person.

With a smirk and a nod, she turned away. I did as well, wondering what she saw while inspecting at me. She obviously approved, considering her nod. I did wonder if it was just cursory or approval. The smirk indicated approval, so I went with that.

My thoughts were stopped as a sour looking woman in green, dressed as a stereotype, witches hat and all, walked into the hall and looked at the assembled students. She explained that we would be sorted momentarily when we were brought into the great hall. I assumed that was what was beyond the door in front of us. I tuned into a different conversation happening in front of me between to students.

"Hey, what did she mean by houses?" Houses, I'd nearly forgotten about those. I really wished _Hogwarts: A History_ had better explained the houses of Hogwarts. I felt like I was a good fit for all of them based on what listed. I don't like not knowing things, especially things of this magnitude.

"Well, there's Gryffindor. It's the house of the brave and courageous. Then there's Hufflepuff, they're the nice ones. Ravenclaws are the bookworms. Then there's Slytherin. Less said about them the better. I don't think a good wizard has ever come from Slytherin, or a bad wizard from Gryffindor for that matter." I thought the boy incredibly naïve. Or stupid. Either seemed a good description. Houses had no power to determine who you would be.

The massive doors opened, and we walked into the room, already filled with other students of all ages sitting at four very long tables. We walked down the center aisle in two single file lines, side by side as instructed. I was next to a different person this time. This one was the blond boy that seemed to be rather rude at first. He had to be embarrassed by what had happened with the dark-haired boy. It was akin to a slight to the blond's name.

We stopped at the front of the room and the witch from before stood up on the raised platform. Behind her sat who I assumed were the professors of the school. In the center, at a magnificent seat, sat who was likely the Headmaster. Snape sat near the edge of the table, looking dour and like he would rather be anywhere else. There was only one empty seat, to the right of the headmaster, saved for the witch standing before us probably. She seemed important.

"I will call your name and you will come sit on this stool as I place the sorting hat on your head to sort you into your houses. First we shall listen to the song it sings to us in order to better describe the four houses of Hogwarts." The song was odd, a singing hat was odd on its own though, so it was not overall surprising. The first name, Hannah Abbott, was called and soon enough the hat shouted Hufflepuff. Her robes gained a yellow border and she ran off to the table with those of similar colors. I was impressed, but curious as to what the criteria was.

I stood, staring at and evaluating the people in the room. There were several redheads watching the first years from the Gryffindor table. I assumed they were the family of that other redhead, the one that was stuck to the dark-haired-boy's side. At the Slytherin table, the students seemed subdued and calculating. They were watching certain students be sorted, all of which ended up in their house. The Hufflepuff table was cheery and excited and the Ravenclaws were paying attention and cheered when someone was put in there house.

I wasn't paying much attention to where people were being sorted, other than to note that the blonde girl had been put into Slytherin. However, I did notice when boos and hisses sounded at certain sorting's. Most of it was between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables, it looked like the rivalry ran among them as houses.

When I heard a few names staring in M, I began to pay attention. Draco Malfoy was called, and the hat shouted Slytherin before it even reached his slicked back platinum blond hair. A pureblood then. Roger Malone was called and sorted into Ravenclaw, then it was my turn.

"Lily Moon." The woman called. I saw a few teachers look down at my first name and glanced to see Snape, he was impassive, nearly impossible to read. He, and everyone in the room, watched me as I walked to the stool and sat. I felt the hat plonk onto my head before a voice that wasn't my own entered it.

"Yet another muggle-born with brains. Oh, but what an interesting one you are my dear…"

"Please just get on with it." I thought to the hat. I didn't want to be the center of attention any longer than I had to be.

"Ah, smart of you to know I could read your thoughts. Ravenclaw would be a good fit, with your thirst for knowledge. Hmm, but you have a loyalty that is rarely seen, a Hufflepuff for sure. Brave you must be to have gone to the train station with no family, and to enter this new world with no fear. To live the life you have. Gryffindor would do you well." I rolled my eyes, knowing nobody would be able to see me. I was getting annoyed with this indecisive hat.

"I am not indecisive dear, I know you belong in Slytherin without a doubt. Your ambition and cunning are shining through. Though I do not believe it would be safe for a muggle-born to be in that house at this time. Pureblood supremacy is still on the rise and I fear another war is coming. Although… if you could play the part no-one need know of your blood status." I smirked.

"I think I could do that given a few days to observe. Put me in Slytherin."

"My dear, keep in mind, once you are sorted you cannot change houses."

"I am aware. I can play my part. Maybe I can be the change they need. The first muggle-born Slytherin in centuries. Proving them all wrong would be a plus as well. Now put me in Slytherin."

"Well then, with ambition like that, it must be… SLYTHERIN!" The hat was removed from my head and my robes adjusted themselves to be green with silver accents. It looked good, I decided as I walked, my head held high like I'd seen the others do, over to my table. My housemates were all sizing me up, I could tell. I would do nothing to clue them in on my heritage. If they asked, I was from the Americas. My accent wasn't as pronounced as others and I was often mistook for someone from across the pond anyways, I would just play that up.

I sat in my seat and was greeted by silent nods, none of the boisterous cheering seen over at the other side of the hall. I appreciated it. I glanced at the head table. Snape was looking at me in shock and confusion, I smiled a little, making sure nobody at my table saw the interaction. His expression changed to one of consideration before Harry Potter's name was called and his attention was drawn to the boy who lived, the dark-haired boy from before. He appeared to already hate the boy, though I had no clue as to why. I was glad it was a Friday and I had all weekend to prepare to be a fake Pureblood.

When the feast appeared, I waited to see what the other Slytherins took before reaching for food of my own. Though I didn't wait long enough for it to be obvious that I was waiting. I noticed that the other girls ate lighter than the men.

So gender roles were still very pronounced in the wizarding world. Probably like the 1800s with lots of arranged marriages between pureblood houses, most for political and financial gain. Image would be important as well, if for that very reason and not wanting to sully their name.

The silence of the table lifted as the older students that sat near the first years, with obvious purpose for doing so, spoke to us.

"Hello first years. We are the seventh years, and we're going to be showing you around for the first week or so. Every one of you will be assigned one of us once we are in the common room, so stick around. After the first week we expect you to be able to make it on your own, though if you need something you can always ask your mentor, or another student if we're not around. Keep in mind that you will be doing this in your seventh year as well. We expect you to be well behaved and earn our house points. Don't disappoint us. Now, get to know each other." I held eye contact longer than the others did and when they finally looked away they seemed almost impressed.

"Well, we all mostly know each other, though I don't recognize you." A brunette stated. She seemed rather brash, and obviously the blonde from earlier agreed if the disdainful glare was anything to go by.

"Pansy, don't be rude." She stated. "What's your name? I'm Daphne Greengrass."

"I'm Lily Moon. It's a pleasure I'm sure."

"I don't recognize that name. Obviously you're not part of the sacred 28." I shook my head. I had no clue what the sacred 28 were, but I was certainly not part of them. I figured outright lying would be bad, so I avoided doing so. Omitting the truth was more my style anyway.

"No, I'm not." I confirmed.

"Are you even from any of the pureblood families in the U.K.?" Pansy asked, her brashness not yet contained. I assumed it would happen with age. Well, more like hoped.

"Well, no. My family is from the America's." Not a lie, but not the entire truth either. My family had immigrated three generations ago. That wasn't necessary information though.

"So you're family hasn't been integrated yet." The blond boy stated. I really needed some names for these people.

"No, and I doubt they ever will be. They are… what you might call hermits. They don't like people or socializing much." My parents lived in their own little bubble, one I wasn't even invited to join often. Only when they needed to parade me around like a media prop.

"Then how do you expect to get a contract?" I was stumped by Pansy's question. What did she mean by a contract? I assumed a marriage one, but I couldn't say that in case I was wrong. Instead of answering I settled for a glare and a dismissal. That's what I was taught to do when answering a difficult question. Find a way around it or act as if it is too personal for present company.

"I don't know the rest of your names yet." Pansy didn't look happy at the dismissal, but I thought I saw one of the seventh years smile a little and glance over at me.

"I'm Blaise Zabini," A dark skinned, Italian boy introduced, he seemed fairly neutral on the conversation so far, "This is Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Pansy Parkinson, Tracy Davis, Millicent Bulstrode, and you already know Daphne." I noticed that he went out of his way to introduce the men first, gesturing around the females to indicate them. Gender was certainly important, I would need to remember this. I was lesser than the men, though he didn't go by any kind of rank I could tell. Just by whoever was closer.

Everybody stood to leave after Dumbledore's speech, and the first years were to follow our house's prefects. The seventh years sitting closest to us motioned for us to remain seated and wait. When the room was mostly emptied, they motioned for us to follow the group to our common room. We walked through the massive doors and down a hallway before walking down many staircases. We ended up in the dungeons, stopped before of a stone wall.

"We have a password; the prefects change them every week. All you need to do is state the password and then the wall will open for you to walk through. Every house has their own common room around the castle. _Do not_ bring someone from another house here and _do not_ share the password with a non-Slytherin. The first password is Snakes." The wall parted, much like at the entrance to Diagon Ally, to let us in.

Inside was rather dark and tinged green. The windows were out-looking the lake bed. It was beautiful, but not very practical without heating of some sort. The couches and chairs dotted around the room were in perfect condition and didn't seem the most comfortable, though the wooden tables and chairs seemed good for studying. To the left were two staircases, I assumed they led to the dorms.

I was assigned a seventh-year mentor and then shown to my dorm, which I only had to share with two other girls, who just so happened to be Daphne and Tracy. I was both okay with this and slightly disappointed. If I were sharing with Millicent, then it would be so much easier to fake things for the next seven years.

The next morning was a Saturday, and while everyone else slept in, both in my house and out of it, I was up early. Being an early riser was helpful for some things. Sneaking to the library in hopes of finding information on Pureblood customs was one of them. It also helped me get away from my 'mentor'.

As I left the dorm I realized that I had no clue where on earth I had to go or how to get anywhere. Hearing footsteps to the left, I decided to go in that direction, hoping it wasn't just echoes from the right. I was certain that this was the direction we had come from the night before, but the dungeon walls all looked the same at the moment. I would draw myself a map if the other students hadn't stressed the importance of keeping the location of the common rooms a secret.

I turned a corner and was met by the black clad, tall figure that I learned was my head of house, Professor Snape. I paused to look at him before going to walk around him.

"Ms. Moon, I think you and I should chat." I paused, not facing him. What had I done?

"Professor Snape, have I done something that warrants needing to talk? If not than I was on my way to the library." I stated as I turned to look at him once more.

"Do you know where the library is?" He asked with a raised brow and a condescending tone. He had won this round. I didn't react other than returning the gesture.

"I'm sure I would find it eventually."

"Why don't we compromise. You come to my office to chat, and I will show you how to get to the library." It wasn't a question, so I didn't bother to answer, just followed him as he turned to leave. I wondered what he wanted to chat about, but at the same time I knew it was about my house placement. He and Dumbledore, and maybe McGonagall, were the only people who knew what I was. Though Dumbledore didn't seem very interested in me at the moment.

In Professor Snape's office I sat in a chair that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable as he sat across from me behind his desk. He stared at me for a moment, I stayed silent, waiting for him to explain the reason for our chat.

"You are a Muggle-born."

"I'm aware, and I know you are too considering you were the one to tell me that in the first place."

"You were placed in my house. Slytherin hasn't had a muggle-born in it in years. In fact, the last was Myrtle and she died while she was a student. For unrelated reasons I'm sure, but still… this doesn't bode well for you."

"Myrtle?"

"Moaning Myrtle. She's a ghost here, lives in the prefect's bathroom and the girl's bathroom on the third floor. That's not the point though. That was back in the 1940s and she was only made it to third year I believe. Even so, our world was more forgiving to muggle-borns in Slytherin then than they are now. Ever since the last war…"

"I was told by the sorting hat that it might not be safe."

"Then why not be placed elsewhere?"

"Because that's not fair. I belong to this house, so to this house I shall go. Besides, they all think I'm pureblood. I can play the part. You've seen my house, you know I'm well-off. This means I can look the part. My upbringing means I can act the part. All I need is some background information about customs in the wizarding world, pureblood traditions in particular."

"What did you say when they asked why they didn't recognize your last name?"

"I didn't lie. I told them that my family wasn't social and that they came over to the U.K. from the Americas before I was born. Neither of which are lies. It just so happens that neither are the complete truth. So, unless you or the Headmaster tell anybody, nobody needs to know. I don't plan to call myself a pureblood, nor a half-blood. I just don't plan to tell them that I'm muggle-born. If it comes out, I'll deal with it. After all, dazzle them with your charm or baffle them with your bullshit, right?" Snape seemed to give up.

"You won't find many books on pureblood etiquette. None of them need it, it's ingrained from nearly birth. Though I am from a pureblood line I was raised muggle. I wrote some notes during my first years of Hogwarts that might give you a better start than I had. I'm willing to lend them to you. I recommend you don't get close to Draco, Malfoy's love power. You get close to him, and his parents will learn of you and look into you. I can assure you, you won't pass their scrutiny."

"Thank you," I stated, taking the journal he was offering to me, "But, why are you helping me. You have no investment in me."

"You remind me of an old friend." I nodded, accepting the little information he offered.

"Is that all then, sir?"

"Yes. To the library then?" I nodded, and he rose to escort me. "Speak of this meeting to anybody and I can ensure your life will get very hard for you to live." My mouth quirked at the threat he issued, but understood it wasn't a bluff. This world was not the one I was from, that much was certain. If I knew one thing; this year would be fun.


	2. Year 1: Part I

The first week of classes were interesting. I met some people from other houses, but they seemed to not like me due to the color of my robes. I was just glad the Slytherin's didn't know my blood status, otherwise I would have no allies in this school.

Snape was dreadful in class. Well, dreadful to everyone not in Slytherin. I felt kind of bad for the kids in Gryffindor, they got it the worst, especially Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Although Granger's show of nearly falling out of her seat on the first day _was_ kind of idiotic.

Nevertheless, it seemed many people in the castle didn't like him. They called him the bat of the dungeons, and our house were his 'pet snakes'. I almost wanted to prove them wrong, but then I remembered the notes that Snape had given me. They stressed not getting into anybody's business other than your own. It was smart, if slightly… inconsiderate? Although, I guess nobody ever got anywhere by fighting someone else's battles.

The seventh year that had been assigned to me gave up trying to show me around once he realized that I would just split away from him as soon as his back was turned. People still didn't know that I wasn't as pure-blooded as they believed; though, I had almost sold myself out when in class, writing with a quill was certainly an adjustment.

I walked with my head high as I marched through the corridors by Daphne's side. She had already gained the title of Ice Queen and I was in a close second with Ice Princess. I had to put up a serious front of uncaring in order to keep people convinced. I also had to give the snub nose to many questions since answering them would give me away. Pansy was still asking and fretting over my future marriage contract, I mostly ignored her.

I often just ignored people or switched topics whenever family came up in conversation. I learned this wasn't something that would sell me out since it was considered rather brash to discuss family matters in public. That said, the only place in the castle that wasn't considered 'public' were the dorm rooms. Daphne and Tracy were the only ones who could ask about family; and since they wouldn't offer anything up, I didn't have to either.

I marched into the great hall, standing by Daphne's side, Tracy Davis following close behind us. She had a hero complex on Daphne and me for some reason, and it was further fostered by sharing a dorm. People had nicknamed her Snowball. She didn't quite have the makings of ice monarchy. Too open I guess.

Just as we entered the great hall, a pie flew in front of us. Daphne and I stood still, taking in all the destruction. The teachers were all absent, a staff meeting probably, and so the Weasley twins had deigned to start a food war. Food was flying between all of the tables, hitting the Hufflepuffs who were too nice to throw anything. Moving away from the Ravenclaws as they sent the food back to the thrower or hitting them on their robes when they were to slow to cast. The Gryffindors looked like food monsters and the Slytherins looked angry and were resorting to projectiles other than food on the return. Some of the more lighthearted Slytherins were giving as good as they got though.

Tracy moved from behind us to go and join in on defending our table. Daphne and I stood stock still in the doorway, waiting. A glob of mashed potatoes flew overhead and landed splat on the center of Daphne's clean pressed robe. I tried not to smile at the comical way everyone in the room stopped and stared at the now fuming girl. I glared at the hall as a whole. The ones holding potatoes dropped them immediately. I almost lost my composure and burst out laughing at the trembling students who could easily know more spells than we did.

"What _is_ the meaning of this?" McGonagall called from the professor's entrance at the front of the hall. The doors behind us opened and behind us stood Hermione Granger. She looked as appalled as McGonagall did as she surveyed the destruction before her.

"Every student in this room is to clean this up by hand this instance! You three," She called, pointing at the three of us who stood in the door, "Are to come with me." I heard Daphne groan, her robe would be ruined for sure. I understood her pain. It was hard to find comfy designer clothes and apparently robes were no different. We went with McGonagall, were awarded 10 points each for not getting involved, and were then sent to our dorms. Daphne and I went willingly, though Hermione seemed disappointed, probably wanting to go to the library.

"I can't stand those Weasley twins! I may not be a blood purist, but man are they scum! I swear, what on earth are they thinking half the time!" I tuned out of the rest of her rant as I heard she wasn't a blood purist. That could be good if my little secret ever came out. Sure, she would hate me for not telling her the truth or not correcting her, though I got the feeling she knew I was at least a half-blood. This was good seeing as how we are to be roommates for the next 7 years.

Daphne was appeased by the time the rest of our house arrived hours later. We sat in our dorm studying for our first test of the year. It was in Herbology, a course neither of us particularly cared for. Both of us favored Charms and Transfiguration.

It was almost the end of October and, so far, nobody knew of my secret. Daphne and I had terrified more people in the school and the Ice Monarchy had become common knowledge amongst the houses. I was okay with this if it meant I would be left alone.

Though I was surprised at how much power we first years had over the seventh years. They all seemed to be terrified of us and I wasn't sure I liked it. I wanted respect, but not fear. When I mentioned this to Daphne she nodded and told me that she thought that the fear was still better than the way they treated the other pureblood girls; like objects. Daphne and I were the only of us five that wanted careers. Millicent, Tracy, and Pansy all just wanted to be trophy wives. Daphne's younger sister was like them apparently, she would be starting next year. The two of us were well matched at least.

I had encountered the Weasley twins once or twice more while walking with Daphne. She still held a dislike of them, but when away from everybody else she confided that she thought they were quite funny. If I didn't know it would sell me out, I would laugh at their jokes and pranks as they were happening. I smiled, remembering one that involved Flitwick as I walked around, exploring the castle.

"Hey, Snake, what're–"

"-you smiling about!" The twins often spoke in broken sentences, did I mention? It's extremely annoying and I honestly just wanted them to quit it. Though their pranks were funny, their personalities could be rather annoying.

"The thought of hexing you both." I stated just in case somebody was listening. We were in an empty corridor somewhere near the fifth floor, but that didn't mean nobody was lurking. People didn't seem to venture up here if the portraits were to be believed.

That was another thing, nobody talked to the portraits much. They were lonely and always willing to help when I got lost. Purebloods never ask for help from others, Snape's notes had stated. I stuck by that and asked portraits instead. Loopholes, I was good at finding them.

"Ooo, little snake-"

"-has got claws."

"Can snakes have claws? Pretty sure we don't have arms, let alone hands or other appendages to have claws on."

"She has a point Gred."

"Indeed she does Forge." I raised a brow at the nicknames. They each raised one back.

"Well, if you will excuse me, I must be going now." I went to step around them, but they moved so that they were on either side of me before each wrapping an arm around my shoulders. Now I was trapped.

"Where do you think you're going?" The one on the left, Gred, asked.

"Away from you."

"Now that's just mean." The one on the right, Forge, stated.

"Remind me to kill you both. Please." I responded as they began to lead me down the hallway, in the _wrong direction_.

"See, the two of us have something we wanted to test, and you just so happen to be the perfect subject."

"Let go of me." I knew it wouldn't be anything too bad; honestly, I liked the twins. They were just annoying to be around, and the rest of my house hated them. I also knew struggling in their hold would be useless.

"Just answer us one question and you are free to go."

"Fine, ask away." I stated as they led me into an empty classroom. It was clean and had textbooks and parchment covering a few surfaces. This must be where they hung out. Somewhere nobody could find them; smart.

"How did you, a muggle-born, end up in the _house of the pure_?" I froze and they both moved to stand in front of me.

"I don't know what you're talking about and I don't enjoy the accusations you're making." I tried to put up a haughty mask of pompousness, but I don't think I succeeded.

"Come on. We know, and we get why you're keeping it a secret. We would too."

"I think I'm going to go now."

"We won't tell anyone, but should you ever need a place to be yourself, feel free to come here." I paused by the door, my hand hovering over the handle. If they already knew and they told I was doomed. If they knew and kept it a secret, I had allies. I wondered how they found out though.

"Yeah, we'll even tell you something secret about us that we wouldn't want getting out. That way if we tell, so can you. That's something you Slytherins like, right? Bartering?"

"I'd appreciate that," I turned to face them, an unreadable look passed their faces as they stared at me, "How did you find out in the first place, just so I know how to stop it from happening. Did I do something different?"

"No, we found out the first week of classes, then we watched you since then." One of the twins stated, they were both acting mature for once.

"But how?"

"We overheard a conversation between Dumbledore and Snape. Dumbledore was saying something about you acting like a pureblood and asking whether or not Snape would be able to perform a testing of your ancestry without you noticing. You know, since muggle-borns are never in Slytherin. He thinks the hat knows something he doesn't."

"You promise you won't tell?"

"Promise." The first twin stated.

"We won't even tell Lee Jordan." The other promised.

"We know how bad this would be for you if it came out that you were a muggle-born in Slytherin. Blood purists are the worst."

"Plus, a lot of the blood supremacists have children in Slytherin. It would be dangerous."

"They won't like it when they find out."

"Just out of curiosity, how have they not noticed yet?" I finally sat down on the floor, just like they had earlier when I had been making my way out. I still expected to get their secret out of them before they left.

"Well, I come from a wealthy family, so I already dress the part. Plus, I grew up in high society because of that wealth. I found that a lot of the etiquette is the same, if a little behind the times. I know they will be angry, but, to be fair, I've never claimed to be a pureblood or half-blood. They just assumed I was one. I'm trying to fit in, but I'm not really going out of my way to act the part. Just slight avoidance and behavioral changes, nothing major."

"Hiding in plain sight… I like it." I smiled at him, these two might be good allies; though I doubted anyone else would agree.

"I really should be going now. What's the secret you're offering in return?"

"How to tell us apart." One of them said. Normally I wouldn't accept that, but if they thought this was that important, it was worth something.

"George has a scar on his chin. It's faint, but noticeable. Also, I always stand on the left and he on the right on days that are even numbers."

"That… is an odd distinction, but okay. Any chance this might extend to exemption from any future pranks?"

"We don't even let our brothers out of pranks. Plus, it would just be obvious if you were the only one exempted from pranks." I sighed but agreed with that reasoning.

"Retribution will be swift and painful." I stated as I left the room. I made it back to the dungeon after a little while longer of wondering around the castle and some help from the portraits. Daphne was sitting in the common room with Theo and Blaise, studying for an upcoming test it seemed like. I went over and joined them, my books were already on the table. It was probably Daphne taking my notes. While her handwriting was neater, stupid quills, my notes were better.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Some character may seem out of character in this story and cannon will be adjusted, but mostly followed. Lily Moon was a character name from Harry Potter's year at Hogwarts that was either a Slytherin or Ravenclaw. This is going to be a long story (over 80,000 words) so strap in. This was also just written to pass the time and work on plot and character building as well as grammar and English in general.**


	3. Year 1: Part II

There was a troll in the dungeon.

We were being sent to our common room.

Our common room in the dungeon.

What the heck was going on in Dumbledore's brain? A series of conga lines? Did he _know_ that he was insane? Did he even care about his students outside of Gryffindor?

Snape was on his way to help when he pulled one of the Slytherin Prefects aside. He left us, so he could help with the troll, but he went in a different direction than the other teachers. The prefect did not, in fact, lead us to the dungeons. He led us to the astronomy tower, on Snape's word probably. At least _one_ of the teachers here had a brain.

On my way out of the hall I thought I saw Potter and Weasley junior split from their house and wondered what they were thinking. Did they have a death wish?

The next morning it was obvious what they were thinking.

The news had spread quickly that Potter, Weasley, and Granger had encountered the troll, defeated it, and then _gained_ points instead of losing them. Snape was glaring at them at breakfast and McGonagall looked extremely smug.

The three Gryffindors, who hadn't been close before, now seemed as thick as thieves. I rolled my eyes. I didn't hate the three of them, but this was just unfair. Why did they get to encounter a troll while I had to freeze in the topmost part of the castle?

To my left, Draco was ranting about how unfair this was, and how his father would hear about the terrible leadership this school was under. He was _way_ too whiny for me to even entertain getting close to him. You always need to know which battles to fight. Which ones you would win, which ones you would lose, and which ones you needed to fight simply because the outcome didn't matter as much as the battle itself. I hoped he would learn soon, otherwise these next several years would be terrible. For him _and_ my sanity.

"Miss. Moon, my office." Snape stated as he walked by. I knew anybody else would scramble to their feet and hurry after him, but I saved my dignity. I stood with my normal elegance and followed him at a swift, but natural, pace. He was waiting outside the Great Hall's doors for me. He was a bastard, sure, but he knew how to be practical.

He led me to his office with brooding silence and opened the door for me when we arrived. We both sat, and he got to the point quickly, not one for small talk.

"How is the _ruse_ going?" His voice was mocking and disinterested. He probably didn't care that much, aside from that I was in his house, he had no investment in me.

"The Weasley twins overheard a conversation between you and the Headmaster, so they know, but they've both promised secrecy in exchange for secrecy. It was uncharacteristic of them from what I hear, but I have the reassurance that they won't tell." He nodded and reached into his robes, pulling out a journal from the depths of one of his pockets.

"It's a book of spells that Pureblood children are taught even before they have wands, methods of travel and communication in the wizarding world, and some general wizarding customs for different holidays. I meant to give it to you last week, but you make yourself scarce quite often." I nodded and took the book he was offering, ignoring the probing question. With a wave I was dismissed from the room. Putting the book in my bag I left the dungeon and made my way up to the transfiguration classroom for first period. Always a sunny man, that professor Snape.

With December started, talk of who was going home for Christmas did as well. Everybody in my house was going home for the holidays. I would be the only Slytherin remaining at the castle. Not many students were staying this year, a few Gryffindors, and a smattering of Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

"Why aren't you going home again, Lily?" Daphne asked with a raised brow, bringing much attention my way. Tracy had been nudging her for the past few minutes, but seemed satisfied now that the question had been asked.

"My parents are traveling alone for the holiday. It's something they always do, it's their anniversary. They go away for the holiday and sometimes I join them, other years I'm left with the caretaker. They send presents for me, but they prefer to celebrate alone." The other's nodded. Apparently it wasn't uncommon for this to happen in pureblood houses, parents not loving their children was normal. The only reason so many were going this year was because of the Malfoy Christmas Ball that they were all expected to attend. My parents, not being integrated yet, did not receive an invitation. Or so I had been told when they arrived.

"Well, I can't wait for the ball," Pansy stated with a flick of her hair. I raised a brow at her. I didn't need to mention that I hated going to those kinds of parties because it was all just the adults parading their children around and bragging all night. That being said, I knew I couldn't say I wouldn't want to go even if I had been invited, as that would be against etiquette. Though I wasn't entirely certain the wards on their manors would let me pass undetected as a muggle-born. I had read that some of them are particularly vicious, the Lestrange Manor came to mind.

The train left for Kings Cross a few days ago and now I was nearly alone in the castle. It was Christmas morning and the presents my parents sent sat on the foot of my bed. I opened them with curiosity and trepidation. Anything _too_ muggle would need to be sent away or locked up in my trunk. Luckily, all I got were some chocolate and clothing. Dresses mostly, none that would be out of place for a pureblood and all seemed to be just my style at least. There was also some money that I could exchange at Gringotts to buy whatever I wanted with. Ah, parental affection.

With a sigh, I rose from the bed and decided to do some exploring around the castle. I spent all day walking from place to place inside, not wanting to brave the grounds while it was snowing as it was.

I had found the kitchens a few days earlier and met house elves for the first time. At first it seemed like slavery, but the more time I spent with them, the more obvious it was that they chose to be there. If they didn't want to be there they could just break their bond with their master or not do their work. I entered the kitchen and sat, talking and thinking as the house elves bustled around me.

"Would Missy Snake like something to eat?" A small house elf asked, wringing its ears. I smiled at it and it seemed to relax. Just by observation, I guessed this was one of the younger elves, one of the ones that was just graduating into the workforce.

"What's your name?" I asked with a cordial smile in place.

"I's be Inky Miss."

"My name is Lily Moon. I'm not really hungry right now, but if you have time I could go for a hot cocoa." I told the elf, knowing they liked to be kept busy. With a nod she raced off, happy with her new task. The elves weren't as busy during the breaks because of the lack of students, and thus, lack of chores that needed to be done.

"Here's some hot cocoas for Missy Moon." I smiled at the elf and thanked her kindly. She skipped off with a smile on her wrinkled face.

The painting opened, and I spun around to glare at whoever was encroaching into my space. Professor Quirrell walked in, mumbling to himself. I dropped the glare but remained frosty. I didn't find his teaching style very good. He was terrified of _basically_ everything. Always stuttering or walking around talking to himself. Sometimes it just seemed like he wasn't all there in the head, or like there were too many personalities for his body.

"Oh, Miss. Moon, I didn't expect to find anyone in here." He was obviously shocked, but I noticed no stutter in his voice. It seemed almost off though. Like he wasn't in control of himself. The eyes didn't match the words, if that makes sense. I had read about the Imperious curse and thought that I should get away before I was in trouble. I got the feeling that wasn't what this was though.

"Don't mind me Professor, I was on my way out." He stared at me for a few moments before moving aside to let me pass, my mug clutched in my hand and my other ready to draw a wand at any second. The spells in that book weren't all just daily spells, some were defensive. I hadn't tried them yet though, and I doubted they would do me any good against an adult. As I entered the hallway unscathed, I felt his eyes following me, though I didn't give him the upper hand by turning around. _Being_ naïve was dangerous; people _thinking_ you're naïve was power.

I ended up in the library that night. It was after curfew, but Mrs. Norris and I had an agreement; I didn't get seen by Filch and I gave her pets and I could do whatever I wanted. The portraits helped too, telling me when anyone was near and walking with me back to the dungeons.

To my right, I heard footsteps and turned my head to look but saw nothing. Putting it off, I continued on my way out of the library. I had a large tome under my arm and a lot on my brain, but I still heard the footsteps that seemed to be following me. Pretending that they weren't there, but listening closely, I continued to the doors before exiting. Shutting the door behind me before whoever was behind me could get out. I heard a groan behind the door and someone complaining about never getting out of the library now.

Interesting.

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.**


	4. Year 1: Part III

Nothing happened in the months that followed. Not for me anyway. It was just like being in a normal school, aside from the subjects and the general magic in the air. Neville Longbottom exploded his cauldron a few too many times for comfort considering how close I sat to him. I suppose that's something.

It was April now, almost Easter Holidays. I was staying at the castle again, but it seemed quite a few people were. It made sense, it was only a week, not much point in going home for that. Daphne and Tracy were both staying but the rest of the Slytherins in my year were going home.

After the last carriage pulled away, Daphne and I went back into the castle and to our dorm. Tracy followed us and Daphne let her sit and talk with us; she was in a good mood. The three of us talked extensively about our school work, which flowed into talk about the upcoming exams. We talked about Draco and Pansy being annoying and Crabbe and Goyle's utter stupidity. Finally, like most times, the conversation landed on family.

I knew they were both as curious as Pansy was on the subject and why I refused to talk about it. The only difference, really, was that they were not so uncouth as to bring it up or ask outright about another person's family. You needed to wait until they offered the information; which I wouldn't be doing.

"My family has some pretty odd traditions for different holidays. Although, I suppose all pureblood families have their own interesting traditions. Don't you think Lily?"

"I assume that goes for everyone, and not just purebloods. Family traditions _are_ unique after all. That's why the word _family_ comes before tradition." Daphne smiled tightly and nodded in assent. Now, it appeared to be Tracy's turn.

"Well, my family is only half-blood, but our main line is pureblood, so I don't know how that effects our traditions. I know lots of pureblood families decorate their trees only on Christmas eve, or even Christmas day, but my family does it a month in advance. This was the first year I missed it." Daphne nodded and turned to me.

"What does your family do for Christmas?" I frowned, I knew that the blood status of a family didn't affect the tree going up. I also knew that the Malfoy's, the picture of pureblood, put their tree up on the first of December. I heard Draco complaining about it. Suddenly, the talk of Christmas in made sense. It was a ploy, and not a very good one. I needed to leave before I got mad, and I didn't need them to follow me.

"I think I'm going to go on a walk. I suggest you two stay here, you can discuss your holiday traditions," I was almost out the door when I turned around to look at the girls, "And, by the way, don't ever play games with me. Don't ever be think you're capable of that. That ploy was just sad and… _Gryffindor_ -ish." I knew they wouldn't like the insult. Even though I had no _issues_ with the different houses, they certainly did.

With a sigh, I wondered where I could go. It had to be somewhere they wouldn't look for me, so the library was out. The empty classroom the Weasley Twins showed me came to mind. It was far enough out of the Slytherin's way that they wouldn't think to look for me there. It was also warmer than any nooks that I'd found in the dungeon. The twins made for good company as well. They let me rant to them and didn't complain about it.

When I reached the room, I heard voices coming from inside. They were going back and forth, seemingly discussing a prank of some kind. As I always did when visiting this room, I knocked and waited for them to say enter. Never know what kind of things they set up at the door to keep others out. When they permitted entrance, I opened the door and walked through cautiously, still not certain how much I trusted them prank wise.

"Hello." I looked at the three boys that were in the room. The twins and Lee Jordan were seated on the floor. It seemed the twins were talking, and Jordan was taking notes or ignoring them. I only recognized Lee because of the twins' stories about him and their epic pranks, their words, but I'd never actually met him.

"Ah, the only decent Slytherin! Welcome, hope you don't mind Lee joining us today. Have a seat, we were discussing pranks." I may have forgotten to mention, but whenever I visited the twins in this room, when I was needing some away time from all the Slytherins, I would sit in on their planning sessions. I didn't come up with any of my own, but I did improve theirs, or tell them they were idiots and that what they were proposing would never work. I was also their last line of defense. I knew the rules almost better than they did, and yes, they knew the rules. You can't break the rules if you don't know them.

"What hairbrained schemes have you come up with today?"

"I do believe it's your turn first, we went first last time. Whatever brought you to your hiding place?"

"You know this isn't my _only_ hiding place, right?"

"That's not an answer."

"Daphne set up a sting to ask about my family. I think she's starting to get annoyed at me for not talking. It probably also annoys her that she doesn't know what my blood type is."

"What do you mean?" Lee asked.

"She's trying to figure out if I'm half-blood or pureblood."

"I don't get why you people care about blood status so much. I mean really!" Lee burst, an eye roll accompanying the statement.

"Hey, I never said _I_ cared about it, just that Daphne does." My Ice Princess persona began to come out towards Lee. I was sure the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees at the perceived insult he dealt me. He raised his hands in surrender, but I never let up on my glare.

"Well, we want to turn something pink, but we can't decide what." I looked at Fred with a curious face. That was a rather ambiguous statement.

"What do mean 'something'?"

"We mean, we're having trouble deciding what. Lee wants it to be the Slytherin's robes or Snape's hair, I say Dumbledore's beard and hair, and George seems to think Miss Norris would be wise." I was silent for a few moments and during that time the twins went back to arguing, Lee throwing in _his_ opinion now. It was like watching lions fight over a piece of fresh meat when the whole gazelle sat only feet away.

"Why not dye everything pink?" I asked. They all stopped to turn to me.

"I'm intrigued…" Lee began, his face guarded.

"Continue…" Fred stated, looking excited.

"We're listening." George looked like he was doing more than listening, perhaps trying to figure out the specifics.

"Well, if you can't decide what to dye, just dye everything. Forget about people or individual items, go for the castle itself. Think, the walls and ceilings in varying shades of pink, and then you could do the doors in magenta and the floors in neon yellow, just to add some more color. Then, if you really want to, you can put an inactivated color changing potion in all the beverages in the Great Hall the night before and activate them whenever someone leaves their rooms. You two know where all the teacher's private rooms are and where the house common rooms are as well. You can also put one above every classroom so there is no escaping it. Simple really. Although, that would be people changing colors, not hair…"

"Genius."

"Marry me." The twins spoke simultaneously as Lee began to write everything down with a grin, before it faded.

"Wait a second, the house elves would never do that. Not to everyone and especially not to the teachers. They have their orders."

"I can take care of them, all I would need is the potion and a guarantee from you." I raised a brow at his apparent lack of faith in my ability.

"What kind of guarantee?" Fred asked suspiciously. He was the more outspoken of the twins. Almost the spokesperson so to speak, not that that meant either of them were quiet exactly. He was also the doer, while George was more of a planner.

"Nothing too big, really, just some help with a little problem I'm having."

"Which is?"

"Malfoy and Parkinson are driving me up the wall. Get them without getting me. Once that's done, I will help you. I will do nothing before that's achieved. If you let them know it was my idea, the deals off." The twins smiled at me and nodded in agreement, holding out their hands to shake. Lee stared at me in admiration. I may be a bookworm, but I was also a Slytherin and that meant I knew how to play things to go my way.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**


	5. Year 1: Part IV

It was barely a week later when I went to the Great Hall and saw that Slytherin had lost 50 points overnight. That wasn't nearly as bad as the Gryffindors though, they'd lost three times that.

Daphne had taken no prompting to tell me that Draco had lost the points while turning in Granger, Potter, and Weasley. I wasn't surprised. Those four would probably never get along and the three Gryffindors seemed to attract trouble.

The part that _did_ surprise me, was hearing Draco rave about how they were helping Hagrid, the gatekeeper, with a newly hatched dragon. I almost wanted to ask if dragons were real but held my tongue. Obviously they were, if Hagrid had one and nobody was telling Draco he was insane.

I wanted one! Dragons were awesome!

Pansy came into the hall, sat down next to Draco, and began to fawn over him. Her shriek-y voice started to grate on everyone's nerves _very_ quickly. Suddenly, instead of a voice that was shrieking, it was just her doing so; which sounded more like a dog whistle than anything else. I turned to look at her with a disinterested and annoyed face, but what I saw made me try to suppress my laughter.

Draco sat, his nose extended from his face further than Snape's did. It reminded me of Pinocchio. Pansy was no better, her hair had not only gone very greasy, but she also appeared to be wearing new robes, these ones similar to those of a certain potion's master.

Draco went to speak but all that came out was an overly nasal voice originating from his over-large nose. His new teeth sent him a shock as well if the look on his face told me anything. If combined the two made a Severus Snape replacement.

I didn't want to laugh, but this was admittedly very funny. I would restrain myself for now, but the second I was alone again, I would be laughing like a banshee.

With a glance over to the Gryffindor table, more specifically the twins, I left the Great Hall and its hilarious antics. I felt the three sets of eyes follow me as I left the room and made a small gesture for them to follow without looking back or turning in their direction in the slightest.

The three met me in the empty classroom ten minutes later and gave me pleading grins and puppy dog eyes that were simply pitiful.

"Well, it's not as big as I'd hoped but it'll do. Now, when are we pulling this and when will you give me the potion I will need to give the house elves?"

"How much warning do you need?" I rolled my eyes and held out my hand for the potion they no doubt had on their person or stashed somewhere nearby. They grinned, and Lee went to a cupboard across the room, coming back within seconds, the potion in hand.

After shoving the mass amounts of potion in my bag, I left the room and headed, instead, towards the kitchens. The other three of them waited patiently for me to return for my books and notes, considering I had to empty my bag to fit the potion.

I entered the kitchens and watched as a flurry of elves cleaned up after a meal well received. They also seemed to be preparing lunch and possibly beginning dinner, I couldn't really tell. The house elves didn't like to not have a task, so I assumed they were doing a bit of everything. I saw a few washing the students clothing in the corner and some doing the mending, there was even a small group learning to read.

I walked closer to the house elf that I knew was in charge of the others. If I was going to convince them to do anything I would need to convince the top of their hierarchy.

"Hello Barney, how's life going down here in the kitchens of Hogwarts? The other elves listening to your orders still?" I asked, using my nicest voice, and probably making him wonder what I wanted. Barney was a strict elf, but he seemed to hold a soft spot for me since I was always nice to him and all of his workers. I even helped the younger elves when their guardians were busy preparing the feasts. This was why I knew it wouldn't take too much convincing for him to help me with this prank.

"They's been good Missus Moon. What can Barney do for yous this evnin'?" He asked in his broken, heavily accented English. He was obviously Irish with the lilt he held. I wondered what his previous masters were like, or how old he was. Maybe I would ask him when I came to visit some time.

"I'm actually just wondering if you could do me a favor. You see, my friends want to pull a prank on everyone in the entire school."

"Even the teachas?"

"Yup, even the professors and the Headmaster. But, see, they can't pull the prank unless _everyone_ drinks this very special potion. It won't last for longer than a day and nobody will be sure what even caused it since it will only be activated by a spell on the doors the day after it's ingested. The problem is that they can't get everyone to drink the potion, so they need to trick them into drinking it. Is there anyway you could ensure that everyone in the Great Hall has at least a sip of the potion tonight during dinner?"

"I's don't know… I's not suppose' to put anybodys in danger or give the professors anything theys not be ordering…"

"Oh, no, Barney! This won't put them in danger, no matter how much they consume. It's a simple concoction that will allow a spell to turn them a different color for the day. It's nothing dissimilar to a glamor charm really, it's just easier to make sure everyone is affected equally if they drink or consume the potion. Nobody would be put in any danger, I can promise you that. In fact, it will probably be quite humorous to many of the students and a few professors as well."

"If yous being sure…"

"I am Barney, completely. If anything goes wrong, I will let them know that I lied to you and will take full responsibility. I promise."

"Okays I do it for Missy Moon."

"Thank you Barney. This is very kind of you. Try to make sure every person in the castle consumes it. We don't want anybody to feel left out. Not even me, I think it will be quite funny." He nodded, his large ears flapping against his face with every head tilt. I handed over the large quantity of potion that I had stashed in my bag to the little group of elves that Barney called over.

"Now, this shouldn't affect any taste, consistency, or color in food. If it does then don't serve that food and toss the potion." Barney nodded once more, and I smiled at him.

"It shall be done tonight Missus Moon."

"Thanks again Barney. I need to get going now, my friends are waiting for me with my books. I promise to come see you all again soon, and breakfast was great this morning. Enjoy your work." I smiled at all the elves as they waved me out of the kitchen.

It was with a grin that I entered the empty classroom where the twins and Lee sat, waiting quite impatiently. They leaped to their feet when I entered, and I nodded at them. They grinned and ran at me. All three squeezed me in the center of a group hug that felt rather constricting. They were laughing and thanking me over and over again.

"Blimy, we need to get to work! We need to charm every door somebody could use tomorrow so that they change color as often as possible. Want to help little snake?" I shook my head at them as they had released me nearly immediately at their realization. I repacked my bag as I explained.

"I need to get to the Slytherin common room. I promised Daphne that I would help her study for transfiguration." I gave them a quick smile before leaving them to plot their course of action.

The next day chaos reigned as everyone entered the Great Hall already in a different color than they should be. Some found amusement in it, while others seemed to be extremely irritated. I noticed Snape sitting at the Head table fuming while Dumbledore seemed to be very excited as he changed his robes color so that they went with his new skin color. I liked the lilac color that my skin had turned when I walked through the doors to the Great Hall much more than the neon pink it had turned when I left the common room. The rest of the day passed with everyone turning various colors every time they exited or entered a new room. Nobody was safe from the color changing. By the time that people left the Great Hall after dinner, a sigh of relief could be heard from many as their skin turned back to its natural color.

 **Disclaimer: I still own nothing.**


	6. Year 1: Part V

It wasn't long until word got out that the four first years that lost their houses 50 points each had served their detentions. Of course, the reason it got out so quickly may have had something to do with Draco Malfoy and his bigotry. He spent a whole day complaining about having to do detention in the Forbidden Forest at night with Hagrid, an oaf according to the slime ball. How had his hair not caught on fire from all that product?

Honestly, the forest seemed like it was nothing. So it was dark and possibly housed a few beings that the wizarding world had deemed too dangerous to interact with. The only reason it was forbidden probably had to do with the professors not wanting students to get lost inside. I told the twins this and they agreed with me but admitted that it was one rule they had yet to break by entering the forest.

That night the three of us went to the forest for a walk around. We met up by the Black Lake and avoided Hagrid's hut in fear of getting caught. For some reason I doubted that he would be okay with us entering the forest he was meant to guard. The twins had brought a lantern for a light source and I had brought some little ribbons to tie to trees, so we didn't get lost. We were adventurous, not stupid.

When we entered, the forest was certainly darker than it should've been at that time of night, but that was to be expected what with the tree coverage. We tied three green ribbons to trees near the line so we would know where the exit was before continuing deeper into the depths of the forbidden.

The first creatures we ran into were some giant spiders that seemed to want to eat us at first, but George quickly explained that we meant no harm and wanted nothing from them. We then offered them a deal: they don't eat us, and we bring them some fresh meat when we next met. The spiders let us pass by unharmed and we continued our journey. Though we had no clue where we were going at this point we continued to leave ribbons, a red one for the entrance and exit to the acromantula's territory. When we were a safe distance away, Fred grinned and commented on how Ron would hate to know what the forest contained. Apparently, their youngest brother was terrified of spiders. I locked that thought away for another time, just in case it came in handy.

Next, we met with some truly magnificent unicorns. They seemed hesitant to approach and were on the verge of charging by the looks of things when George motioned for us to raise our arms in a sign of submission, something he'd read about in one of his brother's textbook. We did so, and the unicorns were slightly less hostile, though they still didn't approach. None of us were surprised, especially considering there was someone killing their kind. It was self preservation, I understood that.

Finally, when we were on our way toward the entrance after a few more ribbons had been scattered around (white for the unicorns, black for the ghost horses we heard and felt but couldn't see, and green for path markers), the clomping of hooves met our ears and we turned as one to witness the centaurs showing themselves; and their weapons. It was getting very late, already past midnight, at this point and I was certain this had to be a patrol of some kind. We raised our hands as a sign of no harm and to show that we weren't aiming any weapons in return.

They had been slightly prickly at first, but that was because they thought we was trespassing on their territory. Once I explained that we were simply exploring, they seemed slightly more accommodating, especially when I began speaking to them as equals and not lesser. The three of us didn't lower our arms until getting permission to do so and seeing them lower their weapons.

They had explained that their kind did not like wizards and wished us to leave. This was about the point that I pointed out I was a witch and Fred and George were mostly harmless, and at the very least I could reign them in. This factoid seemed to have stumped them. They allowed us to stay and told us to come back any time we saw fit. Each of the five had bowed their heads in dismissal of the conversation and the three of us offered a lower bow in return, greatly shocking the leader of the patrol. They trotted off, giving a few quick glances back to see if we were going to attack. I marked the tree with a brown ribbon, showing that this was the beginning of the centaur's patrol territory. Technically the whole forest was their area.

The next day in the library, I found a book that talked about the many creatures living in the forbidden forest, trying to see if there were any that we had missed the night before. I brought it up to the empty classroom and showed it to the twins who were napping after only getting four hours of sleep the night before. I roused them with a few quick shakes each and began showing them my find.

We sat on the conjured couch and read through the book, learning that the ghost horses had been thestrals and that there were only a few other creatures we hadn't encountered. We also learned that if a centaur bowed to you it was a sign of great respect, and it was symbolic of them taking you into their protection as one of their herd. It was flattering, seeing as it only ever happened four times before, with the founders of Hogwarts. I assumed that the fact we bowed back meant we were offering them our respect and protection as well, something that not many would consider doing for the so-called half-breeds.

The three of us were stunned and eventually decided to return the respect and the gift they were giving us in another way. That night, despite being extremely tired from the lack of sleep, we ventured out again. This time we were carrying a wide array of things we had collected from the house elves and the castle grounds throughout the day. Everything that we thought would befit the centaurs. We left it near the edge of their patrol route, under the tree with the brown ribbon, and then trudged back to our dorms, knowing that they would take it before morning. They were always watching.

It felt nice to spend time with the twins. They didn't gossip or spend all their time trying to work out my blood status because they simply didn't care, well that and they knew it already. House colors didn't seem to matter to them either, nobody was safe from their pranks, not even family. People may have thought they were hard to handle or that they couldn't be around them for long periods of time without going crazy, I thought I was quite the opposite. I needed the time with them because without it I would never get to act like myself.

By the end of April, I had begun to think of them as friends. After all, they were the only ones who knew the real me. Now, if only I could be more open about my friendship with them. It went both ways. I couldn't for my own safety within my house, and they couldn't because their brothers, and family in general, and their house would be on their backs. As it was, Lee wasn't very pleased that they spent time with me. Perhaps we would need to find a way to convince everyone it didn't matter. If only we had the power to do that.

 **Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable is mine.**


	7. Year 1: Part VI

Exams had finished with a bang, mostly due to the dung bombs the twins had set off, and now it was time for the end of year feast. I was slightly confused about why everything needed to be a feast. Why not just, like, a party or something? I couldn't really complain to much though; the food was good, and the company was… well, the food was good at least.

I had grown to like my housemates through the year, even though they were nosey and refused to take no for an answer. We had a lot in common. Daphne and Blaise were always amusing to be around at least. Pansy, unfortunately, still wanted to know what I planned to do about my future marriage contract. When I'd told her that maybe I would wait for a suitable person to court me she looked green. The question of who I considered suitable came up and I rolled my eyes. Why were people so obsessed with this _already_? I mean most of us don't even like people of the opposite sex yet!? Plus, we were 11, not exactly marrying age quite yet.

When Harry Potter entered the hall for the first time since his epic adventure, which was all over the school thanks to the gossiping portraits and students, the hall went silent and he very awkwardly made his way to the Gryffindor table. I found it kind of funny how awkward he got when the center of attention.

Ever since the first time Draco began to complain about him or call him the golden boy, I had been curious about him. As such, I did what any self-respecting Slytherin would do, I watched and researched him.

He was muggle raised. I could tell from his behavior in class compared to that of the purebloods. So how was he so famous in the wizarding world? I had done my research and the bigotry that surrounded his name was enough for me to understand why most people idolized him. He was heralded as the 'end' to the bigotry. Though not really, considering I couldn't be myself with my house due to my blood status, but he was the end to an evil that meant certain death or enslavement for people like me. I didn't idolize him though. He hadn't earned that right from me. Killing an evil man as a baby and surviving an un-survivable curse did not earn my respect. Neither did his little adventure with his friends.

The twins had earned my respect. As had Professors Snape and McGonagall. They were all privy to my secret, and yet had not let anyone in on that piece of information. Hermione Granger earned a modicum of my approval, though not my respect. She was smart, on par with me, but she flaunted it a little too much. That made her more of a target than she should be, and it was certain to come for her in the future. I was determined to fade out, not leave with a bang. This was why I was the twin's _silent_ partner.

Dumbledore had earned nothing but disrespect from me. He was the reason the twins had found out about me in the first place if the conversation they recounted for me was anything to go by. He also rubbed me the wrong way. He was extremely manipulative and then there was the speech he had given at the beginning of the year, even mentioning that the third-floor corridor was strictly off limits unless you wanted to die. That was like catnip to the teenagers in this school. Not to mention his history. All of that had to go to his head considering the status it earned him.

The house cup was awarded to Slytherin, dispersing my thoughts and bringing me to the present as everyone celebrated. Then Dumbledore stood up. He began speaking but Daphne was whispering excitedly in my ear about the win we had achieved over Gryffindor. That's when I noticed the house points adjusting. The old coot was giving points to Gryffindor. Stupid amounts of points for breaking the rules. I mean 50 for a game of chess and only 10 for standing up to your friends? This was ridiculous and _manipulative_. I did some quick addition even as the banners and colors filling the hall changed to red and gold.

Add to my list that Dumbledore also blatantly favored Gryffindor. I mean the entrance to his office was a literal griffin door. If that did show for anything then…

I briefly wondered, sarcastically, what house Dumbledore was in when he went to Hogwarts. Hufflepuff perhaps? Ravenclaw maybe? Those conga lines probably started at a party during his first year as a Gryffindor and continued into adulthood. Could it still be considered adulthood when you were over 100?

I made eye contact with Fred and George from across the hall. They were duly excited, which I did not begrudge them for, but they also seemed sympathetic. I could hear their younger brother from across the hall as he yelled.

"See! Those slimy snakes can't beat us when we're better than them!" Fred turned to glare at his brother before slapping him upside the head. Ronald seemed miffed about that, though Hermione seemed to understand why he'd done so since she too was looking at him like he was an idiot. He was displaying the same kind of bigotry as the pureblood supremacists. And he was in hearing and firing distance of the ones he was disrespecting.

I cast a slight smile to them before turning to console Daphne at the new loss. I couldn't care less. Sure, it would've been nice to win, but I'd never been particularly competitive. It was a wonder I ended up in Slytherin. Sure, I was ambitious, but I wasn't competitive like the rest of them seemed to be.

"I can't believe this! This is so—ahh!" Pansy shrieked in frustration, drawing attention to her from the older students.

"Calm down Pansy. It's not like it's the end of the world. We lost the house cup because Dumbledore gave out some extra points. I mean it's not like winning it would've boosted your grades or anything." Tracy stated with finality as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Honestly, if you really want to be pissed about something, why not the fact that we still know nothing about Lily?" Suddenly all attention turned to me, much to my chagrin. I really hated Tracy in that moment.

"My father will hear about this." Draco muttered darkly, I think I was one of the few who heard him. He'd been saying it near constantly, but I never knew him to actually do anything about it. God, I hated his guts. Shame I had to act like he wasn't a spoiled brat to avoid detection. One thing against me mentioned to his parents and I might be found out. I continued my dinner and ignored the glances from my house mates as they tried to remember what they knew and figure out what they didn't.

Dessert appeared after a while, but I begged off, claiming I didn't want any. I left the Great Hall at a leisurely pace, while planning for the summer in my head. Instead of going to the common room I headed for the kitchens to say a final goodbye to the elves and get some of the dessert that they had promised me. Turns out I had gained their favor. My clothing was always the first to return and the best mended, my favorites appeared more often than those of the other students during dinner, and they often left me notes telling me they had special foods for me. Tonight, it seemed, was no different.

When I arrived, I was dog piled with elves, all rushing forward, ignoring their tasks for the time being, and giving me one giant group hug. When they had quickly scurried back to work I was ushered over to the small table that resided in the room. In front of me was a small plate of French Macarons. Something they didn't make often. These ones were in different flavors than the ones they had placed on the tables. While those were strawberry, chocolate, and caramel, these ones were raspberry, pistachio, and peanut butter.

After some chatting with elves and eating my dessert, I made my way down to the common room. I still made it back before the rest of my house, so I went up to my dorm and pulled the curtains around my bed, preparing myself for sleep while the peace remained.

My first year had been great. Now all I needed to do was spend all summer scouring every book on wizarding customs and pureblood etiquette that I could get my hands on. I needed to be able to hold up my story for the next six years still and I assumed it would only get harder each year that passed as my housemates became more and more curious about me.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. First year is now complete, on to year two.**


	8. Year 2: Part I

I arrived at Kings Cross for my second year alone and before anyone else.

My parents had sent me with the driver once more and I wandered into the station on my own before boarding the seemingly abandoned train that was waiting on the students before it began its cross-country journey to Hogsmeade Station.

I watched and waited patiently as more and more families arrived at the station. Near 11, when the platform would close, and the train would leave, I saw the family of red heads enter the station. Seeing as it was five to eleven with they arrived, I figured they were running a little later than normal; not that they were on time very often. A family trait it seemed.

I was still alone in my compartment when the train started to move. My fellow Slytherins had yet to find me, and I doubted they would. They tended to sit near the back of the train and I was right up front, in the first carriage after the conductor. This was typically where accompanying professor and all the prefects sat, but it remained empty as the train began to chug out of the station.

I had a bad feeling about this year and was worried about what may happen in the coming months. I had no reason to feel as I did, aside from the crackpot that was going to be teaching defence this year. His name was Gilderoy Lockhart and his books were a narcissist's memoriam of arrogance. More for bragging purposes than anything else, and so obviously fiction it hurt to know they would be what we were learning.

He didn't look to have seen a single battle, so how had he managed to do all these things he says he has? The answer? He hasn't. Maybe someone had, but not him. He was pristine, aesthetically perfect. Not a scar on him, and that meant he hadn't seen half the battles he said he had because there was no way he would've escaped unscathed.

My compartment door opened, and I braced myself, thinking it may have been my fellow year mates, but it was only the twins. I smiled slightly at them and they grinned back. Without a word being spoken, they entered my compartment, placed their bags overhead, and sat across from me.

"Hello dear, how was your vacation?" Fred asked as he ushered a small girl sharing the same hair color as them into a seat. She was quite obviously a first year, and probably the little sister they had told me about.

"Ours was great thanks for asking! We drove a flying car into muggle London and rescued Harry from his aunt and uncle!" George stated before I had a chance to answer the question. My eyes probably doubled in size.

"You what?!" I screamed at them. They must be trying to get a spot in Azkaban if they were doing something that stupid. As I'd read over the summer, wizards took the Statute of Secrecy very seriously.

"Relax, we already got an ear reaming from Mum." George assured me. Funny enough, I didn't feel very reassured.

"I'm tempted to give you more than that! You could've ended up in Azkaban for breaking the Statute of Secrecy!" I pointed out, pointing at Fred when he tried to make some kind of smart comment. He looked over his sister's head to stare at his twin.

"We're aware." They both chimed as they turned back to face me. Both had big grins on their faces, as if it was some great achievement. Fred must've seen my murderous expression because he quickly changed the topic.

"This is our little sister Ginny by the way. She's starting her first year." Fred introduced. I glared at him for another moment before turning to his twin once more.

"Yeah, so if she gets put in Slytherin with you, keep an eye out will you?" He said with puppy dog eyes in full effect. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath to dispel my anger.

"Sure, though I thought all you Weasleys went to Gryffindor." I stated, ignoring our previous conversation entirely.

"Oh, we do. Just think of this as a…" Fred was flapping his arm in the air, trying to remember the word he was looking for.

"A back-up plan of sorts." George offered, I nodded and smiled at the young girl. She had gotten a terrified look on her face after learning that I wasn't, in fact, her brother's housemates, but a Slytherin. She seemed rather shy and scared to be going off to school, but excited none the less.

"Don't worry, despite being snakes we aren't venomous when we bite." I told her with a slight grin. She smiled, slightly shakily, back. "Although, I do have to ask you don't tell anyone that your brothers and I have any contact. My housemates aren't as… open minded as I am. They would make life in the dungeons very complicated." I explained. She nodded and before I knew it, the twins had lured me into a conversation discussing the merits of changing Mrs. Norris' fur to red and green around Christmas this year. I was all for it, but their plan needed some work.

Our conversation had changed to telling Ginny all about Hogwarts after we had figured out some of the finer details in our plan. Before long the compartment door opened, and the trolley lady was offering us some sweets. The three siblings said no, but I bought myself a sugar quill with some left-over money in my robe's pocket from when I went shopping at the beginning of the year.

Ginny left shortly after to find some people her own age and change into her uniform. Then the twins turned to me. They inspected me from feet to head and looked at my trunk. They were only silent for a few moments, as was typical with the twins.

"So, do you have a crush on the new Defence teacher?" Fred asked, blunt as ever.

"Our mother and Hermione both do." George had a disgusted tinge lacing his voice. It seemed he wasn't a fan of our newest professor either.

"It's sickening really." Fred continued, the disgust entering his voice as well.

"To watch them moon over him." George clarified.

"So, are you going to be doing so too?"

"If so, we really need to separate ourselves from you until further notice."

"Of _course_ I don't have a crush on him!" I glared at both of them, the disgust hopefully showing in my voice and eyes.

"Are you sure? That was Hermione's reaction before she went back to staring at him like she was having a daydream." George asked, getting a full blown glare focused on his person. He cowered slightly, I was pleased to note.

"He's an arrogant, narcissistic, _idiot_ who hasn't done **half** , if _any_ , of the things he says he has. His books read like _fairy tales_ with him as the 'knight in shining armor'. If anything, I already **loath** him more than I did _Quirrell_. As you should know, that's saying something considering he had Voldy under his turban." Both boys looked amused and happy at this turn of events.

"Good." They stated as one. I nodded and asked the question that had been on my mind since I had picked up the textbooks at Flourish and Blotts.

"I think the real question is: why would Dumbledore hire this quack?"

"No clue." George stated, Fred had a pensive look for a moment before a grin stretched his face.

"Maybe he has a crush on him." George and I groaned. Fred had been saying that Dumbledore had crushes on almost every professor ever since I told them that I didn't understand how half of these people had jobs.

"Do you two have a bad feeling about this year?" I asked them after a few minutes of disgusted silence at that mental image. I wondered if it was just me feeling like this or if they did as well.

"Not really."

"Though we do tend to like it when we have a bad feeling."

"It means excitement."

"It means intrigue." I don't know why I bothered asking. The twins were too easy going to have bad feelings and even if they did they _would_ be excited about it.

"Although, I suppose the fact that Harry Potter is going to be around probably means we won't be having a quiet year. That much is for certain." I rolled my eyes and leaned into the window next to me, wishing that the pit in my stomach would ease and allow me to be comfortable in ignorance.

As I stared out the window I saw something zooming along with the train a little ways back. Turning to get a better look, I saw a _Ford Angelina_ flying through the air with great speed. In the drivers seat was a small boy with red hair and hanging from the door was one with black hair.

With a gasp I reached my hand back and flapped it around to get the twins attention. All of a sudden both of them were pressed against the glass with me and we watched as their younger brother and his best friend flew through the air like mad men. I really hoped Hermione wasn't with them, it would ruin my view of her entirely.

"Is that…" I whispered, already knowing the answer but not believing my eyes.

"I do believe it is." Fred actually sounded _proud_ of his brother and I had to elbow him on principle.

"Mom's going to kill him." George also sounded proud but he was standing behind Fred and I couldn't reach him.

"Yup."

"Should we do something?" I asked curiously as Ron finally pulled Harry back into the car. His temporary safety did nothing to alleviate my worry for both boys.

"Nah, they should make it okay." George sounded unsure, but I deferred to his judgement.

"Yeah, the car isn't that hard to steer. So long as you remember which peddle is the gas and which is the-" The car zoomed forward all of a sudden and vanished from sight. I turned my head to look at the twins. Both were looking towards each other with exasperation clear on their faces. I couldn't help the quiet snort that escaped me.

"You'd think he would've known. Little peddle is gas and big is brake. We repeated it a million times while going to get Harry." Fred muttered. I closed my eyes and bit my cheek to hold back the laugh.

"Well, Ronnikins always has been a little slow." I put that away for further dissection and swallowed the laugh that was bubbling in my throat.

"Aren't you two worried? They went towards the front of the train. If they aren't careful, which we know they aren't, they may get run over." The twins gave me a funny look, probably because of the amusement in my voice, but who knew for certain.

"Well, we'll know if they do cause the train would slow down a little."

"You two are so stupid."

"Oh, come on! It's a lesson learned for him!"

"Yeah, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

"Well, what doesn't kill me, might make me kill you. Just keep that in mind." They both rolled their eyes and went back to staring out the window trying to get a glimpse of the car. We all sat, staring out the window for the rest of the short journey. It was in vain because we never caught another glance at the car.

After arriving at the station, we finally split up to go to the carriages with our own year mates. They'd both promised to give me the whole story about their brother's adventure as soon as they got it from him. I was looking forward to it to be quite honest.

I sat for the feast and listened to my housemates talk about their summers and what they got up to. Pansy went on _forever_ about her trip to Spain. She just never seemed to shut up.

Eventually, Daphne turned to me and began to regal me with a tale about her summer spent avoiding her sister. Astoria, the girl in question, sat a few seats over with the other first years, glaring at Daphne and loudly proclaiming that her sister was a stuck-up prissy missy—her words, not mine. It was with great difficulty that I didn't stare over at the Gryffindor table during the feast as the twins interrogated their brother. I was curious, sue me.

The first day of classes was interesting to say the least.

We had Defence that day and Lockhart was a coward and an idiot. He started class by talking about himself, followed that with releasing Cornish pixies, and finished the lesson by leaving the room when they got out of control and leaving us to deal with them.

Hermione called an arresto momentum, but not before Neville Longbottom had been hung from the ceiling. The pixies were easy to deal with while frozen and I helped Daphne round up about ten before leaving the rest of class to do the rest. I didn't really like the idea of cages and putting them in the cage felt wrong.

After class I went straight to the empty classroom to meet the twins. They were already sitting, waiting, for me when I entered, huffing over the fact that those stupid pixies had torn my uniform cuff and pulled my hair. They glanced at my appearance in confusion.

"Cornish Pixies. Lockhart is a confirmed idiot. He released them before fleeing. He's also a massive coward it appears."

"Did you see the Howler Ron got this morning?" I nodded and all three of us laughed about it as they explained the whole story to me, complete with over-the-top gestures. These boys were so stupid, good thing they had Hermione, or they might just forget how to survive. At least Harry, by the sounds of things, was smart enough to fight Ron on it at first.

With a grin the twins finished the story by explaining that Ron had snapped his wand while the Whomping Willow attacked the car. I frowned slightly at that, but the twins didn't seem too worried about it so I didn't fret too much.

"Do you guys want to go to the forest tonight? It's a full moon and the centaurs usually have a feast. Last year they invited us over for the first one of the school year, but you two weren't there so I agreed to pass the message on." The twins rose as one and each offered me a hand to help me stand as well. I accepted, and they removed a bit of parchment from one of their bags.

"We solemnly swear that we are up to no good." I watched in astonishment as the entirety of Hogwarts was slowly revealed. It was a live tracker of it and its inhabitants.

"The Marauders Map. We should be able to get out of here without being seen. Shall we?" The twins stood on either side of me, offering me their arms for me to grab hold of as they led me through the corridors and out to the forest unseen. I marvelled at the map, trusting the twins to lead me.

"Young humans, I was beginning to think you had forgotten." Bane stated as we approached the clearing they had directed us to last year. He was the centaur that had the most problems with us. However, after enough time spent with us he began to see that we were worthy of his respect in a miniscule amount. Firenze said it had to do with the stars and something he had read in them. No matter how many times I'd asked, he still refused to tell me just what it was that he'd seen. Apparently, it was about me and my future and those that know their futures are said to be the most unsettled, so he opted to keep it secret.

"Of course not, Bane. We simply had to escape the castle unseen. The others need not know of mine and the twins friendship." The twins nodded their heads slightly to a group of centaurs a little ways away.

"I think I might go speak with Firenze over there." Fred informed us. He gave a nod of acknowledgement to Bane before walking across to where Firenze stood. George gave one as well before heading in the opposite direction to speak with another group on the far side of the clearing. I remained with Bane and cast him a small smile.

"So, how have things been in our absence?"

"Things have been as well as they could be I suppose. Evil lurks closer than it has been in several years. It is worrying."

"Evil? What kind of evil? Do you know?" Bane looked at me in question.

"Is everything alright child?"

"I just have a… feeling is the wrong word for it, but for lack of a better one, feeling that something is happening or about to happen."

"Near future or far?"

"Near. As in within weeks maybe months. Definitely this year. Am I to assume that the evil you spoke of is one in the distance?"

"Yes, several years away, but still worryingly close. Nothing is set in stone though. As for this year… well, there isn't much to do until it happens, is there?" I gave a nod to Bane as he was called over to begin the feast. The twins stood by my side once more as the feast began and food was sectioned off and freely given to us.

The twins, as men, received meats of various types, though they refused to ask what kind or get any kind of information about it. I, as a female, received fruits and grains. It was tradition within the centaur tribes to serve their women lighter foods than the men as the men did the hunting.

After food had been served and other traditions and celebrations had been observed, the three of us were sent on our way for the night as the herd began to split for their duties. The women and children headed back to their camp as the men went to stand guard or hunt. Some of the men, mostly older or injured ones, followed the women back to camp. Bane and Firenze walked the three of us to the edge of the forest and bid us a good night.

"Firenze said something about the spiders running from the edge of the tree line, towards the center of the forest. He said something had to be the cause of it."

"Yeah, Ronan said something about them being scared. He told us to be careful. The spiders are agitated and that makes them a little less accommodating, even with those they see as allies. He said if we were to enter the forest to only do so with them."

"I think this might cement your theory about something happening." I nodded, thinking about what Bane had told me.

"Its strange. Bane said an evil was coming, but he said it was years off. That means whatever's coming can't be evil."

"Well, maybe its not inherently evil?"

"Nothing is inherently evil. A sword does nothing without its master wielding it, though the sword will still be seen as the evil. It simply means that whatever it is that's coming is the lesser of the two threats."

"Hmm… Firenze invited us to their Samhain festival. It's during the Halloween feast. I told them we would be there if we could make it."

"I would rather go to the forest than the feast," I told them, "I'm going, you two can decide for yourselves. I'll wait by the entry way until the feast starts." They nodded, and we went our separate ways. I went to the dungeons and they went to their tower. Oh, the juxtaposition.

 **Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine.**


	9. Year 2: Part II

Malfoy was picked for seeker. I was never going to hear the end of this. He was basically just handed equal standing ground with Potter, for which I was not glad.

It's not that I _disliked_ Potter or _liked_ Malfoy, I simply didn't want to listen to this **bragging** anymore. Draco thought he was suave and cool now because he got the position that gave him all the glory. It suited him. If he wanted to spend his time chasing shiny objects and focusing on Potter, I would wish him luck and happiness on his endeavors, so long as I didn't have to hear about it.

"Father sends his thanks." Draco stated before pulling several new broomsticks from the staircase and handing them to his new teammates. I rolled my eyes. He bought his way onto the team. Wonderful.

"Well, lets go. We've gotta train you up if we wanna win. I got special permission from Snape to use the pitch today. We're taking it from Gryffindor." Flint smirked in triumph. His ongoing feud with Oliver Wood was almost as bad as Draco's was with Harry. Daphne and I followed from a distance as the team walked up to the Gryffindor team and delivered the news.

This, of course, derailed into them fighting and Draco calling Hermione a Mudblood. I had no clue what that meant and was about to ask Daphne, but then the entire Gryffindor team was yelling and cursing the boy and Flint. The twins looked murderous. They shot me a quick glance and that was all I needed to know that it was a slur against muggleborns.

Ronald Weasley made a stupid decision just as I was about to leave. With a shout of 'Eat Slugs' he cast a spell, which promptly backfired through his snapped and taped back together wand, and that very gastropod began to fall from his mouth. It was revolting. He was quickly ushered away by Harry and Hermione. Instead of the Hospital wing though, they headed for Hagrid's hut. Idiots. The twins walked back to the castle and I didn't need their map to know where they were headed.

"Well, now that Draco has finished being an uncouth little prat, I say we go watch the practice. Make sure they know how to beat Gryffindor." Daphne stated with a sniff. I rolled my eyes and came up with a carefully crafted response that didn't let anything on.

"Well, I don't want to watch today. I'm going back to the castle."

"What? You don't actually feel bad for Granger, do you?" Tracy asked loudly. Loud enough that the entire quidditch team turned to look at me from where they were dallying.

"What I do and do not believe are my own issues. Just like your beliefs are yours. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and in mine you shouldn't call someone a slur because they insulted your _ego_. The appropriate response in that situation is to prove them wrong."

"It's not about getting revenge! It's about showing them who's in charge! About who has the power in the situation!" Flint stated, receiving nods and grunts of agreement from everyone in the vicinity.

"You people and your prejudices. Do you need a refresher on power tactics? You should always remember, power is not only what you have but what your enemy thinks you have."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco asked with a pout and annoyance covering his face.

"It means you shouldn't insult people when you don't know anything about them."

"Well, I guess this confirms you aren't pureblood."

"What I am or am not has nothing to do with you or how you will treat me."

"Yeah, whatever."

"Treat me badly and you will see what I mean in time." I state before I left with a swing of my outer robe that would make Snape proud.

I marched up to the castle and ran into two tall, lanky redheads just inside the entrance. The twins were grinning at me and reacted quickly. They dragged me up to our hideaway and we hid there for the rest of the day as we laughed. They were, apparently, very happy with the smack down I had delivered Malfoy. My thoughts of impending doom were all but forgotten for that brief period of time.

Halloween came with a whisper this year. The twins had been complaining about their brother for the last week. Apparently Harry was hearing voices in the walls. I was curious, and it seemed they were too. The only problem was that the twins were barred access from Harry because Ron was being an arse.

This year there was no troll that came into the castle, yet. Nothing exciting. So far the biggest thing seemed to be Harry hearing voices and the defense teacher being an idiot. Again, nothing out of the ordinary.

I went to the entrance hall to wait for the twins and watched as the students from all houses entered the great hall for the feast. Of course, the three of us wouldn't be joining them this year. We were going into the forest, even if it was night and against the rules. Eh. Feasts weren't really my scene.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked into the area, talking with the twins. They weren't talking loudly, but, since they were the only ones in the cavernous chamber with me, their voices echoed.

"Come on guys! Why can't you just bring us some food from the feast when you leave? You have to know that Nearly Headless Nick won't be serving any at _his_ party!" Ronald complained. It seemed he was always talking about food when I heard him… well, that or bigotry. I mean, last time it was eating slugs, this time the lack of food at a ghost's party.

"Yes, but you see-"

"Ronnikins. Nobody ever said-" That nickname…

"We were going to the feast."

"In fact-"

"We aren't-"

"Because we've been invited elsewhere."

"What? Where?" Hermione asked, always ready for more information.

"Elsewhere." The twins stated before walking towards me. They winked, and each put an arm around me. I put on an act and tried to shove their arms from my shoulders, but they wouldn't budge. Stupid lack of strength.

"This is Miss Lily Moon. We will be feasting with her tonight."

"Like hell you will be." I stated with disgust before finally shaking their arms from my person.

"Goodbye." I stated with a disinterested air as I marched from the castle and into the night. I knew the twins would be joining me soon enough. By the time I reached the forest the twins were just leaving the castle. I saw their forms jogging to catch up with me and keep our escort from waiting too long. Hagrid approached from his hut, probably just on his way up to the castle for the feast when he spotted me. He hadn't spotted the twins yet though.

"Should'n' you be up a da castle?" He asked, I was searching for an appropriate response when Bane exited the forest to escort me in.

"Actually, Hagrid, she is to feast with us tonight. We've sent her an invitation and requested her presence at our feast." I could tell Bane felt uneasy speaking with Hagrid. Understandable since he wasn't the best with the whole privacy thing.

"Oh… the studen's aren suppose to be in da fores."

"She will be with escort the entire night. You can rest easy and if Dumbledore asks, you don't know anything." Bane stated. Hagrid got a confused look on his face before lumbering towards the castle.

"Hello, Bane." The twins greeted from where they stood behind Hagrid's old post.

"Fred, George." He bowed his head to both twins, a gesture they returned. "I thank you for confounding him, though I shouldn't be condoning it." Both twins smiled at Bane.

"It's no problem really."

"Hagrid's an acquaintance but we are both aware how bad he is at keeping a secret."

"Some things need to be done to keep the peace." Bane nodded with a small smile before turning to escort us into camp. While the first feast had been in a clearing, the Samhain celebration was held at their base camp. This would only be the second time we had been there. I looked and saw that the twins had shed the cloaks they had been wearing in the castle and were now wearing the traditional wardrobe that we had been expected to wear. I was in a black, floor length robe that the house elves had procured for me. It was loose and had no modifications. The twins were in minimalistic clothing as well, cotton trousers and shirts with drawstring closing on the chest.

We arrived at the site and were treated to the sight of hundreds of candles laid out. We had each been asked to bring one as well. An offering of sorts. Ronan appeared and brought us to an alter that still had space on it for our three offerings.

As we placed and lit the wicks, chanting began from all around us. It was only the elders that were meant to chant and that included Ronan. None of us knew exactly what was being said, too focused on the magic that was now swirling around us. I felt my own magic reacting and soon enough a bright light began to appear in the center of each alter. When the chanting was completed, the lights on the alters continued to get brighter before, with a sudden flash, all the candles were blown out and wind was rushing trough the camp.

It was silent, still, and dark when the light receded. We remained in silence for ten minutes to respect the spirits we were celebrating. The veil wasn't at it's thinnest yet and wouldn't be until long after the celebration, but for the time being it was a nice way to honor them.

Torches were lit around the camp, though it still remained silent and somber as everyone remembered the people they were honoring. Food was passed around, same as with the first feast, and we all ate in silence. Once the food was cleared away, the excitement began. A group of younger centaurs began to play music on their woodland instruments and thus began the dancing and singing. The three of us were encouraged to join and so we did. The twins danced with me in an outrageous and humorous manner. This garnered many laughs from the assembled tribe, bringing the spirit of the night up. When Bane whisked me away to dance with him, the twins went to dance with other female centaurs. Showing them the same humorous dancing style that they had done with me as Bane led me in a more traditional way.

By the end of the night, we re-entered the castle to see a large group of the students gathered around a wall. All of our merriment left us as we approached, only to see angry people and a petrified cat on the floor.

The writing was on the wall… literally. The Chamber of Secrets had been opened and enemies of the heir had to beware. This probably didn't bode well for me. I was enemies with everyone, even my own housemates.

I cheered as the game of quidditch was played. I didn't start booing the Gryffindors, but I still cheered on Slytherin. House pride and all that. I watched as the two seekers dove for the snitch, and as the beaters tried to stop bludgers from hitting them. Fred and George worked in tandem, keeping their teammates safe the entire game. I noticed that one bludger in particular seemed to have it out for Potter.

Cheering came from the Gryffindor stands as Harry caught the snitch, though it quickly turned to groans as his arm was smashed with the bludger that had been chasing him. It seemed to want him dead as it continued to go after him long after the game was over and even after it had already injured him. He was rolling and dodging the ball as it repeatedly came down towards him.

People were rushing the area and eventually the rogue ball was destroyed. Lockhart came forward when it was deemed that Harry had a broken arm and needed to visit Madame Pomphrey. He, in all his arrogance, removed all the bones from Harry's arm in a disastrous attempt at mending the bone.

The twins had glanced at me with smirks even though their prized seeker was without bones. They knew just how I felt about that idiot. Harry was carted off with a floppy arm and mud caked all over his robes. I left with a roll of my eyes and a smug feeling settling in my gut.

Lockhart was holding dueling lessons. My Christmas wish had come early.

This was going to be amazing.

I went, only for the show really, but also to blend in with the other students in my year. When I arrived, I saw Snape standing in the room with Lockhart, looking as bored and unpleasant as always.

"This should be interesting." Fred muttered to my right. Daphne and Tracy advanced to where they saw Millicent, but I stayed back. Millicent really turned on me ever since I had told them about their bad Power Tactics. The twins and I stood in the shadows, no doubt people wouldn't even glance in our direction. They were too transfixed on the dais in the center of the room.

We watched as Snape sent Lockhart flying across the room, ending the duel in a matter of seconds while Lockhart was blathering on and using overlarge gestures. I snorted slightly, and both boys seemed to be only _just_ holding in their laughter.

"Man, we could teach better dueling than that guy and we're still in school."

"Agreed." I stated before I pointed towards the two boys who were now dueling on the dais. Draco sent a snake at Harry and Harry began hissing at it, making it turn away from him.

"Parseltounge… sweet." the twins muttered as I stared in shock.

"What's that?"

"It's the language of snakes. A really rare gift, so few people have that ability. In fact, the last known one was He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"Well, Harry's going to in for a rough time." The twins nodded with winces of sympathy. Everyone would be terrified of him now, thinking he is the heir of Slytherin. Though that made no sense because he was in Gryffindor and part of the extremely long Potter line.

Dueling went on and I went up against the twins; trading stinging hexes and practicing shielding charms mostly. I looked to my left just in time to watch Millicent place Hermione in a headlock. My eyes bulged, especially when I saw that nobody was going to intervene. Not even her own housemates were approaching. Probably for the best considering they would just make it worse.

"I'll be going now." I stated before turning to leave the room. The twins cast a glance at me, frustration and righteous anger shining through.

"You're just going to leave? You're not going to help?"

"I know when to not get involved in things. This is things." I stated before turning to leave again. One of them grabbed my arms.

"What is wrong with you? Millicent is clearly bullying Hermione, most of your house is and all because of her blood status, something you share with her I might add. How can you not even stand by and watch, but just leave!" This was George. Fred was on his way over to the fight, Fred was always up for some excitement, and George was the softer-hearted of the two.

"If I help they'll only turn on me. What good would that do?" George rolled his eyes and glared at me.

"I was curious as to why you got placed in Slytherin and not Hufflepuff. I'm starting to see it now." George turned his back on me and walked away. I frowned and forcefully stopped myself from crying or following him. Half of my friends had just called me evil. The other half was likely to agree. I was too.

I walked out of the Great Hall alone. My housemates were starting to snub me more noticeably now. They knew I wasn't a pureblood for sure ever since the power tactics incident. They now just seemed to wonder whether I was a dirty half-blood or an okay half-blood. They didn't like me any longer. Only tolerated me. At least they didn't know my true lineage. That would probably be enough for out-right hexing and mocking.

The twins still refused to talk to me beyond a few words in greeting when we met on the full moons to visit the centaurs. The herd had noticed our discord of course, but none had ventured to ask about it.

I was only one step outside of the Hall when I slammed into Harry Potter, who stood staring at the wall. He turned when he heard me fall and helped me up from the ground. I nodded at him and he at me. His reserved attitude was understandable, I was an evil snake after all. I glanced over his shoulder and saw the writing on the wall. Students began to leave the hall. Malfoy made a comment about the monster killing mudbloods and I almost cringed before schooling my features. I turned to him and offered a glare.

"Malfoy, I don't always burn my bridges, but when I do I like there to be no survivors. Keep that in mind next time you open your mouth to spout your bigotry around me. You may just find yourself in danger." I turned and walked away, leaving the sizable group of students staring after me in wonder. A Slytherin that threatened a housemate, called him out on bigotry, and stood up for muggleborns all in one sentence. It was a rare thing never before seen in the halls of Hogwarts. It was even less known when you realized that the housemate happened to be a Malfoy.


	10. Year 2: Part III

Weeks passed quickly. The twins were still ignoring me for the most part and my housemates had become slightly less obvious in their dislike of me for the sake of image. It was still there when we were in the common room, but instead of snubbing me in public, they settled for just ignoring my existence. A bit like the Gryffindors with Fay Dunbar.

By the time Hagrid and Dumbledore left the castle, I was getting scared. This monster, whatever it was, was only going after muggleborns. Hermione Granger had been petrified, proving the theory further, enemies of the heir and all. If it chose to attack me it would spread my secret like wildfire. I didn't want that. I was okay being a half-blood in my housemate's eyes. Even if I was considered a kind of blood traitor.

I started to visit the centaurs more often than ever now that I had no friends. I was turning into Hermione at the beginning of last year. All that was missing was a troll attacking and leaving me two heroes for friends.

At least the centaurs accepted me. I helped the women at camp with their chores and spent more time in the forest than I did the castle when I wasn't in classes. They were quickly becoming my family and friend group all in one.

So much for this year ending on a positive note.

Then came the last straw, a message saying that the heir had taken someone to the Chamber where she would remain for the rest of her days. Ginny Weasley. The person I had promised the twins I would look out for, was in danger.

I wanted to go talk to the twins. Tell them things would be okay. That their sister would be fine and back to laughing with them soon enough. But I couldn't. They didn't frequent the empty classroom anymore. I had gone time and time again, but they had never shown. They had that map, they'd probably found a new hideout. It certainly seemed like they were avoiding me.

The morning after, I went to the hospital wing to get a few potions from Madam Pomphrey to help heal a wounded member of the herd. There, I saw Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Gilderoy Lockhart all laying in their own beds with varying degrees of injuries. I saw the twins sleeping next to their sister, sitting hunched over in uncomfortable chairs. But I saw no Madame Pomphrey.

I was about to grab the potions myself and leave when the doors to the hospital wing flew open and a group of red heads flew into the room with a loud bustle. The twins shot up and then I noticed that Percy Weasley, a sixth year, was sitting on the chair next to Ron's bed. He too sat up when his family entered the room. Madame Pomphrey entered the room and seemed to greet the new additions like old family.

"Molly, Arthur, it's nice to see you again. If only under different circumstances. Bill, Charlie I thought I told you two I never wanted to see you again." The two young men grinned at the matron and then glanced over to their sister. None of them seemed to notice that I was in the room as the whole family greeted each other, the patients now awake as well. I wanted to give them privacy, but this was an emergency.

"Miss Moon! What are you doing in here?!" The matron asked, finally taking note of my presence and making everyone in the room go silent and turn to me. I schooled my features as they all seemed to take me in. I had no doubt that the red eyes would clue them in on my distress.

"I just came to request a few potions. It's a bit of an emergency."

"What for? You look well enough! The Hospital Wing is off limits anyway. No more spying for your friends, now off with you!" I narrowed my eyes at the second youngest Weasley who dared to speak to me like that. What a prat.

"Is that all you think of me? That I am here to spy on you or other students? What is it about me exactly? Do you have a solid basis for doing so or is it simply because of my house? Tell me, you think all Slytherin's are evil, do you have a basis for that? Or are you too wrapped up in your own bigotry to see that the house they are sorted into does not define a person?"

"Miss. Moon I think that is quite enough." Madame Pomphrey interjected.

"No, I don't think it is, but I will let the topic drop. For now." I glared at the red head who now sat fuming at my words. "I have a list of potions that I need and then I will be on my way. Professor Snape sent me to you when I requested them from him."

"Let's see it then." She glanced at the parchment and tutted. "Whatever do you need blood replenishing potion for? Skele-grow? My dear, you are not injured."

"They're not _for_ me."

"They're for her opponent when she finishes with them. No marks means no trouble." Ron grumbled. I glared at him once more and only just held back a growl. My face remained clear but my eyes, I knew, danced with righteous indignation. He gulped and looked down quickly.

"Ronald, perhaps you should request a summary of my speech to Draco in the hall the other day. I think it may just fit this situation as well. The potions please, Matron."

"I can't give them out unless I have the name of the patient."

"Ronan." The twins both looked at me at that. Shock was clear on their faces and curiosity seemed to be running though Harry's as well. It was then that I remembered that Ronan had been part of the patrol that had found Harry in First Year.

"There are no students under that name currently in attendance."

"Nobody said he was a student."

"I will not give out these potions for a familiar."

"He's not a familiar either. If you must know, he is the second in command of the tribe of centaurs that inhabit the Forbidden Forest. He is currently injured, and they are on their last reserves of those potions. He was not the only one injured and thus I need these potions to aid in his healing. Firenze will be coming to the castle grounds after he has been healed to speak with the headmaster about more supplies." Madam Pomphrey remained where she stood for a few moments before walking away to grab the potions.

"The centaurs?" The woman, who I knew to be Molly Weasley, asked.

"Yes."

"What _did_ you mean by burning bridges and leaving no survivors?" Harry asked.

"I mean that I will end all communication with you in a way that will ensure you are worth nothing more than the dirt on my shoe should you wrong me."

"Scary." Fred stated with a smirk.

"But genius." George stated with a smile.

"We like _you_." The twins stated. I rolled my eyes at them and glanced in the direction Pomphrey had went.

"Yeah, so you've said, many times, against my will." The rest of their family looked on in confusion, except for Ginny. She was following the conversation with her eyes but looked petrified after her ordeal.

"Do you think the Slytherins will try to do anything to me for this whole mess?" she asked softly. I looked in her direction and sent a small smile. So she was the perpetrator… I would need to get more information on that.

"Not if they want to live to see another day." She looked confused, but oddly comforted.

"What do you mean?"

"You are under my protection, remember? That comes with certain… perks. I can't stop them from speaking their minds, but I can make them regret doing so. Draco already fears me, and he thinks me far _less_ than him. Imagine what the others might think." Ginny smiled slightly at that.

"I'm not sure I'm supposed to be this comfortable with you threatening people for me."

"Probably not, but don't let that stop you." She nodded as Pomphrey had returned with the potions. I took them and placed them carefully in my satchel before leaving the room. "I'm off; see you around Gryffindors."

"Should she be going into the Forbidden Forest alone? It's off limits for a reason." I heard from an unfamiliar voice say as I left the room.

"Probably not, but I like her." Another voice, this one much more familiar, responded. I rolled my eyes and hurried my pace. I needed to get to the camp, fast. If it wouldn't have drawn some interested glances, I probably would've sprinted. With a thankful sigh, I saw that Bane was waiting my return. He would make certain I wasn't waylaid by another creature.

"How is he doing?" I asked, Bane frowned and looked behind me. I turned and saw that Fred and George had followed me and were standing just behind me.

"Hope you don't mind if we join. Just wanted to see the herd one last time before we left for the summer." Bane nodded.

"You cannot see Ronan or any of the injured in their depleted state. Only the women of the herd are to see us when healing."

"We won't try to visit them. Promise. We can't stay long either. Our two youngest siblings are in the hospital wing up at the castle."

"I wish them the best of luck on behalf of the herd." Bane offered before beginning to lead us to camp. When we arrived, I was sent to help tend to Ronan and the twins went with Bane to speak with the elders of the herd. I smiled softly, seeing Ronan lying on the ground in one of the huts. He didn't look good and wasn't expected to make it, considering he had taken the brunt of the injuries in his partners place. It was nice to see that I could say goodbye to him at least, maybe take some of his pain away, distract him or something. Be there for him as he had been for me.

"I have the potions." I murmured. The only other female in the room left the hut. I frowned in confusion.

"My wife. She doesn't wish to watch me pass." Ronan stated. I frowned at him.

"I don't particularly want to either." Ronan smiled at me and raised a hand, indicating the entrance.

"You are free to leave. I need no company for when I pass. I am not scared. Death comes for us all in time."

"Scared or not, nobody should be on their own when they die. I will remain with you until the end, regardless of my wish to not see it." I sat on the ground next to him and grabbed his hand.

"You are a very brave girl Lily. I don't know many who would try to befriend the creatures of this forest, let alone join the herd of centaurs that prefer to jeer on your own kind. Do try to not lose that bravery through the years."

"I will do my best, but even you should be aware that nobody is capable of facing everything head on. I'm a cowardly Slytherin, not a brave Gryffindor."

"Ah, but if I remember correctly, Slytherins are not said to be cowards, that is simply what people think. You value self-preservation, the want to live over the want to fight is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it is, if anything, braver than to stay and fight. Just keep in mind, if you do fight, you will be fighting for your life as well as many others." I nodded.

"That's what you did, right? Had you not taken the brunt of the attack you may have been able to survive. You chose his life over your own."

"My brother is expecting a child in the near future, though I am unaware if he knows of this yet. My destiny has been set for a long time now. I choose to accept it, though you should remember that destiny does not make a life, life makes destiny." I nodded and the two of us remained silent for a time. His breathing began to slow. He was deteriorating quickly.

"Lily," I looked into his eyes once more, "Mercy may be a pretty thing, but it isn't very productive. You need to remember this in the coming years or you may find yourself joining me in the afterlife sooner than you should."

"Mercy is not something I offer to everyone Ronan. I give everyone one chance, if they ruin it beyond reparation than that is their own prerogative."

"You are far too nice for your own good and you don't even recognize it. I know of no man who would allow things as you do. Compassion is a power that many a man knows not."

"I am no man for I am a woman."

"That argument is becoming far too effective against us." I smiled slightly, it turned into a frown when he remained silent. I glanced to his eyes, they were dimming more with each second.

"Ronan?" He remained silent and I felt tears begin to stream down my face. His eyes had lost the small flicker of light that had remained, and he had gone limp, he was gone. I let out a few small sobs before collecting myself. I stood, he would want his death celebrated, not mourned. It wasn't my place to mourn him anyway. I walked on wobbly legs to the opening of the hut. The assembled group all looked my way as I exited. With a shake of my head, Ronan's death was announced. The twins approached me, and each wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into their comfort. I would not cry until we had exited the camp.

Firenze came over to us. "It is okay to hurt, just don't allow it to consume you." He whispered.

"You should be heading back to the castle. Your family may be missing you by now." Bane stated, approaching as well.

"I will escort them." Firenze volunteered. He had been closer to Ronan than Bane had been, and so he felt the need to take care of us in Ronan's place.

"We can go alone. You should be here with your family, to grieve Ronan's passing." Fred stated, his voice soft and shaky.

"You are our family as well." Bane stated with clarity.

"We shall both escort you to the tree line." Bane stated. The three of us nodded and we began the trek back. They left us at the tree line, as usual, and I watched as they began to head back to camp.

The second it was just the three of us, I began to sob. The two of them supported me and made sure we dodged everyone on the way to the hospital wing. My sobbing didn't abate the whole walk. George held me in his arms as Fred opened the doors and allowed us entrance.

"Madame Pomphrey, do you have a calming drought perhaps?" Fred asked the matron. She hurried away and came back within seconds, administering it me when she had returned.

"What did you two do to her?" Their mother asked. I wanted to stand up for them, I had the feeling other people didn't do that often.

"We didn't do anything. We went for a walk and ran into her on our way back. She was sitting just inside the entrance, crying, so we decided to bring her here." George lied.

"Whatever happened, Miss Moon?" Madame Pomphrey asked.

"Ronan was too far gone when he arrived at camp. He refused further treatment." I stated, my tears finally slowed as I was now surrounded in an artificial calm.

"Well, he will come to his senses when the pain kicks in, dear."

"No, he won't. He's already dead. The pyre burning should be tonight at their base camp. I intend to attend it. He died in my presence, and my presence only. As such it is my duty to light the pyre according to the herd traditions surrounding the death of one of their members." Madame Pomphrey looked at me in shock.

"Miss Moon…" She trailed off with a frown marring her face. I knew she was about to protest, so I decided to leave before she could.

"I need to go prepare and speak with the house elves about adjusting my ceremonial robes from the Samhain celebrations. Have a pleasant night and I wish everyone injured a speedy recovery." With that I left the room to speak with the house elves. I did hope that Madame Pomphrey would refrain from trying to stop me. If she did try, its not like anybody, not even the headmaster, could stop me from attending. Hogwarts rules denied staff to refuse a student from attending a funeral, no matter the time or location.

I was silent for most of the week before we were headed home and the entire journey to Kings Cross. The twins had sat with me again, on either side this time, offering constant comfort and support.

"Well, at least there's no flying car this time." Fred stated. I smiled at him, a thank you for trying to make this seem more normal.

"We want to apologize for the way we acted this year. It wasn't fair to you and it certainly was an over reaction compared to what the fight was about. Sometimes we forget that you're a muggleborn. If you had tried to help it would've ruined your cover. We were inconsiderate."

"You were, but I wasn't any better. I could've called Millicent off. I'm sorry too." We lapsed into silence again and when the train pulled into the station I gave each boy a hug goodbye before leaving the platform to find my parents driver.

My parents and I had never been particularly close, and I didn't expect that to change anytime soon, hence the driver coming to get me. Standing with my family's driver was the lawyer. I walked over and they both smiled at me. How curious. Maybe this summer wouldn't be the break and recovery that I was hoping for. At least I wouldn't need to deal with Lockhart next year.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**


	11. Year 3: Part I

When I approached Kings Cross after the summer was over, I was alone once again. My driver had dropped me off; and he was _mine_ now that my parents had passed. My family's lawyer had assumed temporary guardianship of me until I found someone else to take that position. He told me it would be better if that someone was from the magical world.

My parents died the day before I left school at the beginning of summer. A plane crash, a freak accident that couldn't have been predicted, or so they told me. I couldn't say I was horribly upset at the news. We had never been close before finding out about my… abilities, and we'd only grown farther apart after.

I was mostly raised by nannies and the people employed by my parents. The only time _they_ ever bothered with me was when they had important guests over. With them, much like with the Slytherins, it was all about image. If I wasn't helping theirs, I wasn't worth the effort.

I felt worse over Ronan's death than I did over my own parents. What did that have to say about me? Then again, Ronan had been around for me more then my parents had been since I was a baby.

The muggle authorities had waited to inform me of the news until I arrived home from, what they were informed was, boarding school. Which I understood, considering I was already on my way home when the confirmation had been made. Due to the inquiries about my whereabouts, the Ministry had been made aware of the situation. The head auror had been sent and explained everything necessary about the magical world to my lawyer. Mr. Grandes had then taken guardianship of me until I found someone in the magical world to take his place.

I sent a letter to the twins, informing them of my parents passing, when I finally had a moment of time about a week into the break. They sent a scribbled note back, offering their condolences and offering to help me with anything they could when we made it back to school. They were preparing to leave for Egypt on a family vacation, they explained, otherwise they would find their way over to see me.

I had explained, one night when we sat in the empty classroom, that my parents and I weren't close. I made it clear in my letter that I wasn't all that upset at their passing. They still asked after any issues concerning my continued education and funds, I had reassured them that I would be fine, I had full access to my parents' great fortune.

This was one of the times I thanked my parents' uncommon ability to think of me like an adult since I turned eight. It was, of course, to remain managed by whoever happened to be my guardian, but only I could decide who had access to _spend_ the money. I also got final say on anything that might lose money, bad investments, transfers, and such.

Because of all of this, my summer had been spent moving out of the house that I had lived in for the past five years and moving in with Mr. Grandes. Man was that awkward. I also had him transfer three quarters of my funds to Gringotts, he had advised against transferring all of it just in case I needed muggle money in a pinch. I had also decided against selling the house just yet. I do so when I graduated, just in case I wanted to stay or live there after Hogwarts. Also because it was a family home and I didn't think it felt right to sell it just like that.

When my letter arrived, along with a permission slip to Hogsmeade, I wasn't sure what to do. In the end, my lawyer signed the slip for me and wrote a note explaining the situation to Professor Snape, who would be collecting them. Luckily, the headmaster had changed his focus from the muggleborn Slytherin to the muggleborn Gryffindor that was friends with Harry Potter, so I wouldn't need to answer to him.

I really don't like Dumbledore, have I mentioned?

And so now here I am, climbing on board a car of the Hogwarts Express. There didn't seem to be anyone here yet, understandable considering I was quite early. I decided to walk the train, stretch my legs before the long journey.

I entered from the caboose and wondered towards the locomotive. I made it about halfway before I saw a man in one of the compartments. Yes, a man; not a boy and certainly not a student on their way to Hogwarts. I looked down at the robes I had decided to put on immediately to avoid the rush of students doing so on the way to the castle. They were in pristine condition. The man inside looked to be wearing robes that were frayed and slightly shabby. His shoulders were hunched down and his body screamed reluctance. His face though, it showed so many emotions underneath the scars. There was sadness, determination, and tiredness most prominently.

With a sigh, I cursed my curiosity before I knocked lightly on the door. He looked over with a start, assuring me he had been lost in thought. It was my first time seeing the extent of the scars on his face. It was looked like years of aged claw marks, but he was still young. Not young enough to be a seventh year, but maybe the same age as Professor Snape? He beckoned me in by waving his wand and opening the door.

"Hello, can I help you with something?" He asked politely. He seemed rather… not shy, but reluctant to speak to someone. It was almost as if he was scared that he would upset me with just a greeting. Or like he wasn't used to human interaction.

"I was just being curious; nosy really. Usually I'm the only one on the train at this time and you don't exactly look young enough to be a student, no offence."

"None taken. I'm to be your professor this year. Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Oh! Well, in case you were nervous, nobody can be worse than who we've had the last two years. Quirrell was usually a mess, and it turned out he was harboring the soul of Voldemort, so… the less said about him the better. Lockhart was just an idiot who released Cornish Pixies and then left the class to deal with them before removing all the bones from one student's arm in a botched healing attempt, all the while being narcissistic and generally annoying. Rest assured, the bar is **_very_** low." He smiled slightly, and I realized that I had just used a muggle expression. I hoped against all odds that he hadn't caught it.

"Well, that is quite reassuring. I hope I surpass both of them, though I don't know how long I will hold the position. It seems to still hold its curse. Never the same professor two years in the row since the 40s." I nodded and then looked out the window to see the first family arrive. The kid entered the rear of the train and seemed to stay there, and the parents left soon after.

"So, any way I can get you to tell me what the first assignment is for third years so I can get a head start?" He chuckled but shook his head.

"No can do Miss…?"

"Moon. Lily Moon. A shame really, Professor…?"

"I'm Remus Lupin," He introduced, "Though I feel it might take me a while to get used to being called Professor."

"Remus Lupin? You know, the Remus from mythology was raised by wolves? And Lupin is Latin for wolf. Your name appears to be a contradiction. I think the only thing that might make it better would be you being a Werewolf." I chuckled softly before looking at him, only to see he had gone wide eyed and pale. My eyes flew open and my face must have shown my shock because he appeared to start panicking. _It_ was a secret then.

"Umm… I..."

"I can keep a secret!" I blurted. I got the feeling that this man was nice based on what I'd already seen. He was obviously low on money if his robes were anything to go by, and on allies if his demeanor meant anything. I knew how much trouble Werewolves had finding work because of wizarding prejudice. It probably didn't help in the social department either.

"Nice as that is, I think if your parents find out, you would be in trouble." He stated, probably assuming I was a pureblood just like my housemates had. I glanced at the door as he stood. I was running out of time and I didn't want to chase off the first seemingly decent defense professor we'd had.

"My parents are dead," He looked over at me in shock from where he was reaching for his luggage. It wasn't my best leading line, but it bought me time, "They died the day before I went home for the summer. Can't say I'm upset at their passing, we weren't close." Okay, I needed to stop rambling and get to my point, "Even if they were alive, though, they wouldn't care, considering they were both muggles." His shock was all over his face now for a different reason. I forced myself to shut up and wait for his response.

"I'm sorry, I had no clue, I just assumed because…"

"I'm a muggleborn Slytherin, first in a century probably. The thing is, nobody knows I'm muggleborn because it would make my life hard. Only Snape, Dumbledore, and the Weasley twins know. I would appreciate if it stayed that way. To make my life easier you understand. In fact, now that you know I may have to swear you to secrecy… unless you had a secret you needed kept in return? A quid pro quo if you will." He sat down and stared at me. That was good, it meant he was considering it.

"I'm a dangerous creature, you are simply a different blood status. I hardly think that's the same caliber."

"Well, now, I think that's just wrong. I've sat here talking to you for a few minutes and you've been kinder than most of my pureblooded housemates have and they only think I'm a halfblood. Besides if it came out at this point that I was a muggleborn, just imagine the danger I would be in. I think they are pretty even." I raised a brow at him and he appeared to be contemplating my offer.

"I don't think this is a good idea." I smiled. He didn't think it was a good idea, but he was going to do it anyway.

"Look, forgive me for saying so, but you obviously need the money that this job would provide. I'm not about to tell anyone your secret and get you thrown out of the position. I'm not that kind of person. Dumbledore had to have hired you for some reason, I'm sure you will be a very competent teacher. You eluded to going to Hogwarts yourself, which means you must have somewhere you transform, and to be candid, you don't seem all that dangerous to me. Maybe you _will be_ around the full moon, but it won't be like you're teaching us while transformed." He stared at me for a few moments, obviously relaxing at my reasoning.

"You remind me of my old friends, you know. One in particular, he always said something similar to me, same brash attitude as well." I smiled at him. Brashness, while not socially acceptable, was sometimes necessary.

"Does that mean you'll go easy when marking me? I must admit my essay writing isn't as… straightforward as most professors prefer. I tend to get off topic."

"Yes, I'd noticed. I must say, nobodies ever guessed my… affliction based on my name before."

"I must say people are undeniably dense most times. Though I do admit, it wasn't your name; it was your reaction to my words. You looked shocked, and scared. The same way I probably looked when the twins found out about my parentage."

"How do you keep that a secret?" He asked, looking genuinely curious.

"Well, my family was rather… well-off… okay they're filthy rich, so my clothing is on par with the pureblood's. Then it was only a matter of not giving myself away. Fitting in with their culture and etiquette, which really isn't all that different from the one I grew up in. Plus, I never told them I was pureblood, they just assumed that since I was sorted into Slytherin that I must be one. I simply never corrected them. Though there was an incident last year that led to them thinking me a halfblood. None of them talk to me anymore, they mostly ignore me actually. I think they are slightly scared of me, I did threaten them all with a fate worse than death," I paused, "Social disgrace." He smiled.

"Well, you certainly have the cunning of a Slytherin, no doubt."

"Am I to assume that you were not in my house as a student."

"No, I was a Gryffindor I'm afraid. I was in the same year as Professor Snape, though I must say I wasn't the person I am now, back then."

"You discriminated against them?" I asked, already knowing the answer. I wasn't upset, or even surprised. Age humbled people and peers made even the humble, rude.

"Not particularly. My friends… they had it out for Snape. They picked on him, called him names. I was just happy I had friends of any kind after years of isolation, so I let them. I know Snape holds a grudge. He will likely try to make my affliction known in any possible situation that he may be presented."

"Then I will just have to make sure nobody catches on. Your secret is safe with me and I plan to make sure it stays a secret as long as possible." He smiled at that, finally reassured it seemed.

"The same to you. I believe students will begin arriving now, perhaps you should find yourself a compartment before they fill. I'm afraid I plan to sleep the after effects of the moon away on the journey." I nodded and rose to leave him in peace. I hoped nobody bothered him, but I got the feeling someone would.

"Oh, Professor, will we be covering werewolves in class this term? Just wondering… you know, for future reference." He shook his head in good humor but said nothing. "Fine, leave me in suspense. Have a nice rest and I wish you good health." I left his compartment and went to the one I had sat in the year before. The twins joined me, and we filled each other in on our summers. They asked after me and my well being after both my parents and Ronan, I asked after their eldest brother and their trip to Egypt.

Suddenly, the train jolted to a stop and the room became extremely cold. I felt every ounce of happiness from the twins' amusing story leave me at once. The windows frosted over, and I looked to the twins to see them shivering and frowning. Sadness wasn't a good look on them. Slowly the train regained its warmth and the twins and I were shaken out of our state of depression. The compartment door opened moments later to Professor Lupin. He looked at the three of us with intense scrutiny.

"Are you three alright?" He asked once he had inspected each of us.

"I think so…"

"You okay Lils?"

"I'm fine, what was that?" I asked, the twins looked at one another.

"Dementors?" They asked looking to the man in the door that neither knew.

"Yes, looking for Sirius Black. I suppose you wouldn't know who he is Miss Moon." The twins shot me a surprised look, for what I was unsure. "Why don't you have these two explain that. I need to speak to the conductor and get the train moving again. I'll see you three at the feast." He left again, and the twins focused in on me.

"Who was that?"

"And why does he seem to know your parentage?"

" **That** was Professor Lupin. He's taking the defense post this year. He knows of my status because I told him in a quid pro quo situation. Let's just say I stumbled on a secret of his and shared one of mine of a similar magnitude in return." Both twins looked like they wanted to ask, but both knew better than that. They were well aware that I would never divulge a secret entrusted to me. Their own was good proof of that.

"Sirius Black escaped Azkaban recently. He gave up the Potter's location to You-Know-Who and then went insane. He killed Peter Pettigrew, another one of his friends, and 12 nearby muggles. All that was left of Pettigrew was a finger. He was arrested on the spot and sent to Azkaban without trial. The dementors are the prison's guards. Miserable beings really, make it impossible to feel anything happy. Only defense against them is a Patronus Charm, not that many wizards can do that. They must have been sent to find him." I nodded at the explanation that Fred had given.

We remained silent the rest of the journey to Hogwarts and split up for the carriages. I was one of the last students to reach them, but when I arrived I saw a very different sight from last year. There was only one carriage left and the last one had just pulled itself forward, taking the last batch of students with it. Professor Lupin came up to me and followed my line of sight to the black horses that apparently pulled the carriages.

"Those are thestrals. You can only see one if you've witnessed death. Rather grim creatures, but harmless unless provoked. They live in the forest I believe. I take it this is the first time you've seen them?"

"Yes. I watched someone close to me die last year before leaving school." He looked at me in surprise. He had probably heard about the incident involving the heir of Slytherin at some point and was probably trying to remember if any deaths had been reported.

"Someone died here last year?" He asked, it wasn't as blunt as the words may be perceived though, rather gentle if anything. He led me to the carriage and helped me on board. The horses began up the path on Lupin's command.

"Kind of. I'm a friend of the centaur tribe that lives in the forest. One of the herd members died of wounds inflicted on his patrol, his name was Ronan. He was one of the first to accept me as one of them and one of the three that I had originally met. He was a good friend. I felt worse at his passing than I did at my parents to be honest." Lupin nodded at me.

"You know it's called the Forbidden Forest, and thus forbidden to students?"

"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable." I quoted back at him. He remained silent for a tick.

"Mark Twain." I smiled at him and he seemed to accept the answer for what it was. An indirect 'I don't care.'

"They are kind of beautiful… a dangerous kind." Lupin nodded at my comment.

"That they are. Most people dislike them because they represent death, much like a Grimm, though they are very misunderstood." I got the feeling he knew what that was like first hand.

"Indeed." We remained silent as I watched the creatures in front of the carriage. When we arrived, I was almost sad to say goodbye to them. Before they wondered off I approached them, aware of Lupin's eyes on my back. I placed my hands out for both of them to sniff and they did. They both nuzzled my hands before turning and walking to the rest of their herd. I followed Lupin into the castle where we went our separate ways. I took my seat with my year mates and waited for the sorting to begin. I wondered what this year would bring. Probably not education since Potter was still here.


	12. Year 3: Part II

The first Care of Magical Creatures lesson with Hagrid was going… let's just say poorly and leave it at that. Draco had spent some time disparaging Hagrid and Harry had contradicted Draco. To say the least, the class was doomed before it started. When Hagrid began teaching, bringing out a hippogriff, I knew this would be a quick lesson.

Harry was suitably shocked when everyone but him had covertly stepped away from the giant when he asked for a volunteer. I almost laughed at the expression on his face. Then I heard Ronald's comment of 'go Harry' whispered under his breath. It took all of my upbringing to stop the smile from coming to my face. I watched in curious fascination as Harry seemed to 'tame' the beast, though I knew it was simply him gaining the hippogriff's temporary respect.

He arrived back from his fly around with a grin on his face and everybody stepped forward to try to gain their own hippogriff's respect. Draco and his cronies had gotten Buckbeak, the original hippogriff, and I knew before he even opened his mouth that this wouldn't end well. As such, instead of doing what was asked of us I allowed my partners to try as I focused on what was happening with the platinum blond and the proud creature.

The first words out of his mouth hadn't been too bad, but then the insult came. I nearly face palmed, even Weasley knew you should never insult a hippogriff. Besides, Hagrid had stated it at the beginning of the lesson. Not that Draco would listen to anybody he thought less of.

Draco went down with a shrill squeak when the proud beast attacked. It wasn't a punishable attack, more of a warning if anything. I'd seen their true attacks against another before on one of my trips in the woods. A mere scratch, maybe, is what Buckbeak delivered. Hagrid rushed over and dismissed the class as he took Draco to the castle. It was still an injury sustained during a class.

"My father will be hearing about this!" The blond exclaimed as he was carted off. I stayed still as people rushed off. My housemates to spread the news of their _precious leader's_ injury, and the Gryffindors to spread the epic tale that was Malfoy being injured and squeaking like a pathetic mouse.

Slowly, so as not to startle the aggravated creature, I approached Buckbeak. He looked at me with curious, if slightly hostile, gleaming yellow eyes. I had seen many of these hippogriffs on my treks in the forest, but this one I hadn't. As such, I hadn't gained his trust of respect yet.

"You might just be my new favorite being." I stated while bowing respectfully low. The hippogriff remained still for a moment, as if pondering my words, before it bowed low to me in return. I approached and gave the beast some small pets on the head. He nuzzled into my hand much like the thestrals had. It was their way of showing affection, a fairly common way for the creatures in the forest that couldn't speak.

"I think you are magnificent, no matter what that moron thinks. Plus, you have such pretty feathers and colors on you! How could anybody not see how amazing you are. Malfoy is a prat, maybe this will teach him some humility. I would love to stay and pet you, but I must get back to the castle and get ready for my next class. Otherwise I might get in as much trouble as you are no doubt going to be in." The hippogriff bobbed its head in an approximation of a nod. I turned to grab my bag and was met by the wide-eyed stare of the golden trio, as my house had taken to calling them.

"Did you just…" Ron began, astonished.

"I thought…" Hermione stated, confused.

"Why…" Harry seemed just as confused as Hermione, though he also seemed pensive, no doubt remembering the event in the hospital wing the previous year. I seemed to have an affinity with magical creatures and it seemed that Harry was starting to realize this.

"Just because I'm in his house doesn't mean I need to like him or think as he does. Now, I wasn't kidding about getting to class. If you'll excuse me." I stated in all the politeness that I had been brought up to treat people with. Obviously Malfoy had not taken these lessons.

I entered the defense class and noted it was devoid of any teacher. It reminded me of my first potions lesson and I wondered if Lupin would be making an entrance as Snape had done. Somehow I doubted it. It still begged the question of where he was. Even his desk held nothing but a bit of parchment. I knew that if Draco had come it would've already been inspected and read out to the class. The bell rang, signalling the beginning of class, and yet Lupin was still absent.

"Alright everyone, sorry I'm late. If you would please follow me, we will be going on an excursion for our first class." Lupin stated as he entered the door. Everyone stood to follow him, though we were all suitably confused. I was also just intrigued enough to follow without question. Daphne was not.

"Where are we going? It's the _first_ class, we haven't _learned_ anything yet?"

"We are doing a practical lesson. I am aware that we haven't learned anything yet, however this was too good an opportunity to pass up and the spell we will be learning is fairly simple." He led us through the corridors until we arrived just outside the staff room. When we entered we saw Snape sitting on a chair in the corner. He stood when he saw us and made to leave.

"You are welcome to stay Severus." Remus told him politely. He received a sneer in return as the potions master continued towards the door, passing by the class as he went.

I've been losing my respect for Snape lately. Last year he was not in good form and this year he seemed to be getting worse. Even if Remus had bullied him at Hogwarts, that was no reason to treat him unfairly. As a Slytherin you would think he would recognize that he was giving everything away and putting suspicion on him for everything wrong that happens. I knew Potter certainly saw it that way if his glare was anything to go by.

"I would be careful Lupin. Neville Longbottom is in this class, and unless you wish everyone to meet a painful end at his incompetence than I would not ask him to demonstrate any of the ability he does not have." Snape's cutting words made the boy in question cower slightly. It was no secret he didn't excel at potions and had some troubles with his wand work, but he wasn't a failure as Snape had suggested. He was one of the best in Herbology if the rumors were to be believed. He was also fairly decent in transfiguration and charms, well the theory anyway. If anything, it seemed his wand was the issue, not his ability.

"Well then. Today we will be studying Boggarts. Can anyone tell me what a boggart is?" Lupin asked once Snape had left the room. My interest was peaked. I knew what a boggart was and how to defeat one. They weren't particularly hard to defeat, though the pain of seeing your worst fear come true was what made them a real problem. Many people couldn't get over the fear in order to cast the spell. I must have tuned out because I saw Lupin smile at Hermione before giving 5 points to Gryffindor. What a shocker.

"Neville, why don't you come forward. I think you shall go first." Neville approached with caution and a fair dose of fear. It was no secret he wasn't usually the teacher's favorite student because of how long it took him to get some things.

"Inside this cabinet is a boggart. Now the spell to get rid of one is Riddikulus and the wand motion is like so." He demonstrated the movement and motioned for us to practice. "Now, Neville, first things first: what would you say is your biggest fear?" Neville muttered something that nobody could hear. I saw a quirk of Lupin's lips and figured his advanced senses picked it up. "Didn't catch that, sorry?"

"Professor Snape." Neville stated slightly louder, only just loud enough for everyone to hear him in the near silent room. The professor looked thoughtful for a moment as nearly everyone laughed.

"Professor Snape… hmm. You live with your grandmother, Augusta, correct?" Lupin asked, confusing everyone with the change of topic. Neville nodded and went on to say that he didn't want it to turn into her either. "You misunderstand, can you tell me what kind of clothes she normally wears?"

"Well, always the same hat. A tall one with a stuffed vulture. A long dress, normally green. Sometimes a fox-fur scarf?" Neville seemed to ask. I could tell he was nervous.

"And a big red hand bag if memory serves me from when we met last." Neville nodded, and the professor continued. _I_ was still wondering when he had met Augusta Longbottom. "Can you picture those clothes very clearly in your minds eye?"

"Yes," Neville answered, wondering what was to come next.

"When the boggart comes out and sees you, it will assume the shape of Professor Snape. You will raise your wand and shout Riddikulus while picturing those clothes very clearly. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into those clothes you just described." There was laughter throughout the class and I couldn't help cracking a smile. I saw Daphne laughing with Tracy over the image and felt sad that I had nobody to laugh with in my classes.

"If Neville succeeds the boggart will move onto each of us in turn. I want you all to think of what it may turn into for you and think of a way to make it seem comical. If it turns to you it is good to have that in mind beforehand. Everyone ready? Good, Neville we will back away and let you have a clear field, when you succeed I will call the next person forward." Everyone backed up so they stood against the walls. I stood somewhere in line after Harry. I knew the lesson wasn't likely to continue after he went. Knowing very well that my fear would be something along the lines of everyone finding out my true parentage, or seeing more of those that I loved die, I wasn't exactly excited to go considering I couldn't find a way to make that humorous.

"Okay Neville, on three! One, two, three, and go." The cabinet doors lurched open after the jet of sparks from the professor's wand hit the lock. Professor Snape stepped out, calm as can be, and stared down his hooked nose at Neville. For his part Neville raised his wand, even as he stepped back. He raised it to the boggart and mouthed some words, but no sound came forth.

"Ri-rid-ridikulus!" Neville finally spat at his feared professor as the boggart berated him. There was a sound like a whip before Snape was magically in some new clothing. I had to say, that shade of green didn't go with his skin tone and the hat wasn't his best look. With the roar of laughter, the boggart paused and looked around.

"Parvati, forward." Lupin instructed, she did as asked and the boggart turned into a mummy, her spell caused it to unravel. This continued for a while. A rattlesnake, a rat, a bloody eyeball, a spider (Ronald), and then Harry was called forward. The boggart looked at him for a moment before the room descended into darkness and turned freezing. A large figure hovered above the ground, cloaked in black, and sucking all the happiness that people had been feeling from the room like a vacuum. I wasn't scared of the Dementor that floated before us, just curious.

I could see that Harry was struggling and I almost stepped forward to stand in front of him, to help him in the little way I could get away with, but Lupin did instead. A full moon appeared where the Dementor had been previously, but it didn't stay for long for the professor stated the spell and it deflated like a balloon back into the cabinet. I was starting to see the Gryffindor recklessness now.

"Okay everyone, I think that is enough for today. I would like 8 inches on boggarts and why they are considered so dangerous as well as how to finish them off by next class. You're free to leave." Students began to filter out of the class, trying to escape the bad memories that had just been on replay in their heads, and to warm up once more. I was the last one, aside from the golden trio, in the room. I had waited for the others to leave so I could get across the room to get my bag from where it sat against the opposite wall. Hermione and Ron watched as I crossed the room in perfectly good spirits to receive my satchel. Lupin and Harry watched me as well from where they were seated on the floor.

"Bloody hell, it's like it didn't affect her at all. Maybe she has no soul. She is a Slytherin after all." Ron muttered to Hermione. She slapped his arm at that and Lupin looked at Ron with disapproval but couldn't do anything since he was too far away to have actually heard him without his senses.

"Actually, us Slytherin's sell our soul as part of the initiation process to our house. They tend to get in the way of all the senseless murdering we need to do to achieve our goals. Do you Gryffindor's take issue with something as trivial as not having a soul?" I asked innocently. I could've sworn I heard someone snort, but when I looked to see Lupin and Harry, both were looking at me with amused eyes and smiles twitching at their lips. Hermione sighed and continued to glare at Ron before she turned and left the room. Ron, for his part, remained shocked.

"That doesn't surprise me. You know everyone calls you the ice queen, right?"

"No, actually people call Daphne the Ice Queen. I was simply the ice princess. A title that I have abdicated since first year. If you haven't noticed my house doesn't particularly like me, what with the way I threatened Malfoy last year and continue to do so anytime he gets on my nerves. And, anyway, there is no need to wear your emotions on your sleeves and go rushing into situations unknown like you Gryffindor's seem so fond of doing."

"Well, at least we aren't cowards! We can stand up for what we believe in!"

"Mr. Weasley," Professor Lupin stated in shock.

"Being a Slytherin doesn't mean I am a coward. It simply means that I know when to be brave and fight, and when to keep out of things in order to maintain the peace and get what needs to be done, done. Although I can see where you might misinterpret that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think you have a friend that could use some of your Gryffindor sentiment. I have other classes to worry about, this is a school after all. Professor Lupin, a delightful first class. Potter, hope you feel better soon. Weasley, learn some class." I stated before leaving the class with a flick of my dark hair. I wasn't going to lie, that felt good.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Some of the dialogue in this chapter is quoted from the book (the conversation between Neville and Lupin).**


	13. Year 3: Part III

The twins had been busier than ever this year while studying for their OWLs and I had become their quiz master it seemed. Every time we met up they would give me their books and have me go over things with them. It was actually a little surprising how good they were at knowing all the information when you considered their less-than-stellar grades.

On the plus side, I got to get in some practice on the more advanced spells that I wouldn't be learning for another two years. It was a great to learn something new for a change rather than just what I've already read about. Don't get me wrong, I liked the practical lessons, but the theory was slightly useless to me since I learned better by reading the material than I did listening to it.

On the downside, it meant none of us got to go see the centaurs as much. We had gone down at the beginning of September, and once at the beginning of October, but not again. I felt bad about that and I made sure to make my way down there as often as could without the twins, but I knew they missed the herd.

The twins had gotten detention and I was on my way to see the centaurs on the night before Halloween. I would not be able to escape going to the feast tomorrow night, not without the twins help. Pomphrey had apparently told Dumbledore about my excursions into the forest and while he couldn't tell me to stop going in since, as far as they knew, I was always with an escort, he _could_ ensure that I didn't leave the castle during celebrations that required our formal robes. That meant Samhain was a no go for me this year. In exchange, Bane told me to come and help prepare the night before so that is what I decided to do.

It was still early when Bane delivered me back at the tree line, but he had told me that the forest was in a state of temporary discord over the death of Ronan and the events of last year. As such, they would be making sure I left before sundown from now on. I saw Buckbeak tied up over at Hagrid's hut and was tempted to go and visit him but thought better of it when I remembered Hagrid's seeming distrust of me. It wasn't likely to have gotten any better since the whole Malfoy thing and Buckbeak's neck going on the chopping block.

I turned away from the hippogriff and saw a large black dog wandering on the edge of the forest not too far away. It was odd, seeing as how dogs weren't acceptable pets and they also didn't inhabit the forest. I approached carefully, but it didn't seem to notice me as it stared at the castle attentively. I wondered what it was looking for. Upon further inspection, the mutt appeared to look like a Grimm. This was curious, considering Grimm were much more feral and observant. They also weren't part of the list of approved pets at Hogwarts and didn't have one track minds like this dog seemed to. In fact, dogs were almost never were that smart or intense. My curiosity appeared to be striking once more.

"Well hello…" I stated as I approached it. The dog turned to face me. I looked into its eyes, they seemed more intelligent than normal. This dog appeared to be an enigma. And was it just me or did that look like fear in its eyes. Those same eyes zeroed in on the food that was wrapped in a cloth that I held under my arm. Ronan's widow had sent me off with a few pieces of bread as a thank you for staying with Ronan in his last moments.

"Are you hungry?" I asked it, it seemed to be malnourished, its ribs were clearly visible even with its thick coat of fur. "I have no clue why I'm talking to a dog like it's human, but hey, nobody ever called me wholly sane." I stated as I sat on the ground and unraveled the cloth. The dog approached slowly, as if worried about something. Once again it struck me as odd behavior for a dog, it was well groomed, even if it wasn't fed, so it couldn't be a stray, right? It seemed to be displaying human emotions, but that was impossible.

"Here, it's pity bread and I don't do well with pity." I stated as I offered a torn piece by placing it on the ground as far away from me as I could reach. The dog tilted its head at me in curiosity even as it sniffed the offering. "It's from a recently widowed wife of a centaur. I sat with her husband while he died. She hadn't had the heart to watch her love die so I took the burden. Nobody should die alone.

"He was a good friend, a nice being. He took the brunt of the damage to help his brethren because the stars told him their wife would be expecting a child soon. I can understand the appeal to do something like that, but I do wish he hadn't died from the injuries. He would probably have survived if he'd accepted treatment. But no, apparently male centaurs are just as stubborn as wizards and men in general appear to be." It appeared that my talking was causing the dog to relax in my presence as it got closer and allowed me to feed it more bread.

"I should probably get going. Curfew should be soon. Do you have anyone feeding you out here?" I asked it. "I'm expecting an answer from a dog. I need more friends." I muttered to myself. "I'm going to leave the rest of this bread here. I will bring you more food and leave it in the same place whenever I can. You look like you could use a few decent meals." With that I left the rest of the loaves and headed back to the castle. The dog watched me leave, but I paid it no mind. It was just a dog, I told myself, trying to reason why it had seemed so human.

It was probably for the best that I hadn't gone to the Samhain feast in the forest this year considering Sirius Black had chosen to break into the castle. He had tried to break into the Gryffindor common room, had actually slashed the painting when the it wouldn't allow him entrance.

As such, we had all been informed that we would be sleeping in the Great Hall. The other girls in my house had been frantic, worrying about looking good, whether or not they snored, and if they would be able to sleep on anything less than their expensive beds. I just rolled my eyes and followed the boys down to the hall without much of a fuss. I could see that the professor was appreciative.

Unfortunately, Malfoy had joined the girls in fussing once he found out we were expected to sleep in sleeping bags. He was now quietly muttering about his father and how he would hear about this. I rolled my eyes and tucked myself in at the edge of the Slytherin section, as close to the door as I could get. I was far too curious and even more cautious when it came to my housemates.

When the professors had begun to enter the hall after searching the castle for Black, they stood guard at the doors, making sure nobody could get in. I found it odd that they didn't consider the idea that Black could've gotten hold of polyjuice and was masquerading as either a student or member of the staff. I opened my eyes when the door opened once more and looked at Professor Lupin as he entered as quietly as possible.

"The grounds are clear from what I could find." He informed McGonagall.

"Thank you, Remus. My dear you must be exhausted after last night." I paused to think before realizing that last night had been the full moon. I glanced at the professor's face and saw the lines across his face that did little to hide his exhaustion. I frowned slightly, I really needed to pay more attention to when I went out to the forest at night. At least I had gotten inside before sundown.

"I'm fine Minerva, I assure you. I'm simply having a hard time believing Sirius would do this. I was friends with him, I _knew_ him. I still find it hard to believe he betrayed James and Lily. I mean James was basically his brother, had been since he left home and went to live with Dorea and Charlus. They used to sign their names Sirius Potter and James Black anytime we were passing notes in class for heaven's sake. The Sirius I knew would never have betrayed them, I still don't understand why he did."

"Those we love the most are the hardest to find fault in."

"Yes, yes, I know. This though? This isn't him. He would never harm children, he wouldn't even try. I know that as fact. Not after the abuse he suffered as a child. I truly don't believe he would do something like this on purpose. I mean if he broke in so easily, then why wait until all the students were out of the tower and at the feast when he had a better chance any other time? And on the anniversary of James' death? It just feels more like one of his old revenge plots than it does a plan to kill Harry. Hell, even just him being impulsive makes more sense."

"I had thought of that, I even spoke to Dumbledore about it. Though you know him, he thinks one thing and it is impossible to change his mind about it."

"Yes. Do you… do you think he might be looking for some _thing_ , not some _one_? Or maybe that he's not after Harry like everyone thinks?" It was silent for a few moments and I wondered if she was going to respond at all.

"Honestly, that boy has always confused me. He was the most loyal person you would ever meet, then betrays the Potters. He was perfectly sane compared to his cousins, yet he was barking mad when they dragged him to Azkaban. He was always causing mischief in the halls, but never stooped so low as to intentionally hurt someone, yet he killed Peter and 12 muggles. Hell, he embraced muggle culture, even if it was just to annoy his family, yet they say he killed the muggles out of hate towards them. None of it makes any sense. I don't know what to think when it comes to him. Not anymore. If he were looking for something, what would it be?"

"I have no idea. I went up and looked in our old dorm to see if there was anything there, but aside from our initials carved in the wall there was nothing of ours. It's been 13 years since we graduated, even if he had left something it would be long gone by now."

"It seems the only plausible solution with the information given is that he's after Harry." I started to think about everything I had just heard, mixed with what I had already known. They thought Sirius was after Harry, though Lupin had his doubts. The twins said he went to prison without trial, but McGonagall seemed to think there was no way he could've done what they said he did without it going against his fundamental personality.

This was so confusing, but it was also intriguing. He didn't hate muggles, which means they had to have been a distraction. But, a distraction from what? Killing Peter? Everyone knew he did that. There was only a finger left, the twins had said… only a finger… what would cause that? Unless… that was impossible though, they had to have had a basis for thinking he betrayed the Potters. Unless… this Peter person had done it. The muggles could've been a distraction for him to cut his finger off and disappear. But how would he have done that? It made no sense.

He wasn't insane, like his family apparently was. Why would he appear that way, or even want to? I'd seen the pictures. He was laughing like a maniac. Only a psychopath would laugh at the thirteen, or twelve, deaths that had just occurred. Unless…

Unless, unless, unless.

This was useless. I needed more information if I was going to figure this one out. One thing was for certain though. Sirius Black _had to be_ innocent. It was the one thing that fit all of the events that followed. Sirius was innocent, and Peter was… probably not? Right? That was the only other option…

The only problem now, was finding the proof and figuring out the details to it.

Damn curiosity.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Just a reminder or a notice, not all events in my story will line up with events in the books or the movies. Some will be altered, some will be from the movies, and some from the books. It's more what fits best with the plot than anything else.**


	14. Year 3: Part IV

Not much had happened since Sirius Black broke in. I visited the centaurs; fed the black dog, though I didn't see it as often as I had before; I listened to the petty problems of my year mates from afar as the first Hogsmeade weekend approached; I helped the twins study and mastered lots of new spells while helping them; and I tried to figure out _how_ Sirius was innocent, and how he still ended up on Hell on Earth. All in all, pretty uneventful.

I made my way down to the quidditch pitch. Slytherin was supposed to be playing, but the schedule had changed for it to be a Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor match. I watched the game absentmindedly. I didn't really care much for quidditch, but I still went to the games for reasons unknown. Of course I didn't go to most of them, I really only came to this one because I wanted to go outside without people saying anything about how it was storming and terrible out. Call me crazy but being in the middle of a storm calmed me.

Towards the end of the game dementors swarmed the pitch. If not for the quick thinking of some professors and other players, Potter would have been a puddle of goo on the ground. Diggory had caught the snitch just moments before it happened and Hufflepuff was announced the winners even as Potter was carted off the field. He had fainted at the beings once more (that is, if the rumors of his previous encounter hadn't been falsified).

Dumbledore looked _angry_. It was the first time I had ever seen that, plain as day, on his face. It was not a comforting look, though I suspected he got it whenever things didn't go the way he wanted them to. I watched as his patronus, I assumed it was his anyway, chased them away from the stands and back to the gates where they were supposed to remain. This was the final straw. I was going to ask Lupin to teach me that spell. It seemed interesting and useful for the time being.

I went to find the professor after everything had settled down a little. I knew it was only days after a full moon, but this couldn't wait. Maybe he would help just to get me to leave and let him rest.

I approached his office and knocked on the door, making sure not to knock too hard and upset his ears. I had done lots of research on werewolves. They didn't like loud noises because of their senses being heightened, but even less so in the week before and following the moon.

He called for me to enter; I did. He was sitting at his desk, grading essays by the looks of things. His eyes were still tired, but he seemed to have mostly recovered from his transformation. I sent him a smile and sat in the chair he had indicated. He looked at me, waiting for me to break the silence, but I didn't speak, still going over how to phrase my request.

"Can I help you with something Lily?" He asked after a moment.

"I would like to learn how to cast a Patronus Charm." I stated bluntly, deciding to go with the Gryffindor method.

"That is very advanced. You're only supposed to learn that in seventh year if I remember correctly." He didn't seem opposed to the idea, but curious as to why I wanted to learn. He was digging.

"I would like to start now. I know that not everybody is able to cast one, but I would like to try. I won't need much instruction, just some pointers if you could? I can self-teach, I have been since I started here. It's not like I want to fight off a dementor or anything. It's more just for my own curiosity than anything else. If you're worried about me not being advanced enough, I've been helping the Weasley twins study for their OWLs with no problem." He seemed to contemplate my response for a few moments before he spoke.

"I will give you a list of books that you can get in the library. You should read the theory presented in them and then come see me with any questions. I advise you not to try until you have all the information. It won't cause anything other than frustration if you try to cast it without knowing how to properly. If anything, it might cause magical exhaustion."

"Okay, thank you Professor. I assume you can cast one?" He nodded slightly, and I smiled at him as I accepted the list he had wrote out in mere seconds.

"You don't need to read the whole book, just the parts that reference the Patronus Charm. They are detailed though. Don't forget to come see me when you're done, even if you have no specific questions. It would be better if your attempts were done in the presence of a professor." I nodded and left his office in favor of the library. I was determined to learn to cast this spell, anything to challenge me at this point. Now I could do some research of my own while the twins did theirs.

It was less than a week later when McGonagall began to teach about animagus'. I listened intently, finding the subject rather fascinating. I knew that certain people couldn't become them, and not many did because of how complicated and time consuming it was. I knew Lupin couldn't because of his Lycanthropy, and I knew Dumbledore hadn't, probably because of his lack of focus.

It was when she started explaining about having a conscious mind, even when in your animal form, that something occurred to me. It was niggling in the back of my mind enough for me to raise my hand in a lesson for the first time in my Hogwarts career for something other than roll call.

"Yes, Miss Moon?" McGonagall called on me and I thought of how to phrase my question for a moment.

"I actually have three questions if you don't mind."

"I will do my best to answer them to the best of my abilities." She seemed surprised that I was asking anything at all. The teachers knew I paid attention even if I never spoke in class and tried to act like a ghost most times. It was evident in my essays and in the practical lessons. Because of this, when I did ask questions, usually after class for clarification, they were almost always more lenient with their answers, often adding more than they might normally add for another student, like Hermione.

"You said that you keep your human mind when you transform… would that mean that I could, theoretically, identify an Animagus by its behavior being different than that of a normal animal? For instance, if you found a cat taking a bath, or a snake sitting with a rat instead of eating it, or even a very focused squirrel."

"Yes, I suppose that may happen if the person isn't trying to hide their status. However, most times, the witch or wizard will do their best to blend in. It is often a great skill for aurors because it makes it hard for people to recognize that they are, in fact, people. It is less convenient when you are something like a lion though. That being said, it is simple for an animagus to slip into their more human traits and mind when in animal form, which could differentiate them from others of their kind."

"Is there any definite way to see if someone is one? Particularly when they are in their form, perhaps in hiding?"

"Well, there is a registry at the ministry that anybody can look at anytime. People are required to notify the ministry when they complete their first transformation. There is also a spell that will force a person back into their human form. This spell is especially useful in law enforcement. Otherwise, if aurors found an animal that they suspected to be a dark wizard, they wouldn't be able to ensure it was one unless the wizard chose to turn back." I nodded and tried to formulate my final question into something non-conspicuous.

"Would it be possible for someone to become an Animagus at any age? You said it took immense focus and drive, but if a teenager, or a child, had both of those, could they not become one?"

"Well, as I said the transformation takes lots of concentration. Typically, younger people don't have that kind of concentration necessary. As such most people only become Animagus as part of an apprenticeship program. Like the auror academy or a transfiguration mastery study. I know many adults who don't even have the concentration necessary. Other than that, there isn't any reason why they can't become one. If a student had enough determination, drive, concentration, and magical ability, particularly in transfiguration and potions, then they could very well achieve it, yes. However, because of its complexity, they would likely need the help or permission of the professors and their parents."

"Thank you, Professor. What was that spell you mentioned? Will you be teaching it to us or will that be in defense?" I asked politely.

"No, that will be taught to you in defense, in your fifth year I believe." Class was dismissed soon after. I left with a suspicion and a plan in mind. That dog had piqued my interest by acting far too human. Now I was going to see if I could get it to show itself. I had only a few moments to wonder who it could be before settling on a name. The question was if I could get him to transform without using force. Well, anything is possible with the use of the correct words and proverbial pressure points.

I waited until it was the weekend. Everyone in third year and up, except a select few, were headed towards Hogsmeade, it would ensure privacy at the very least. I watched them leave with a hint of sadness at not joining them, but I had a plan for today and I was determined to see it through.

I approached the forest's edge with an armful of food. I saw Bane at the edge, looking at me curiously and decided to say hello. He was looking a little more quizzical than normal.

"Hello Bane, nice day isn't it?"

"Indeed, it is, Lily. What are you up to? You rarely do things without reason."

"Oh, just meeting up with a mutt. Never you mind though." Bane chuckled and looked at something over my shoulder.

"Well, I shall leave you to your meeting. I will be needed back at camp soon. Plus, it appears your guest has arrived." Bane turned and left me at the edge of the forest, galloping off into the distance. I turned and saw that the dog that might not be was standing a little ways away.

"I think I might sit with you today, seeing as everybody else is out of the castle. Let's go over there." I pointed to a secluded spot that was only visible from the forest. The dog was cautious, but it still followed me. We both sat, and I began to pull out food. It sniffed some but didn't start to eat immediately. It seemed my odd behavior and my presence was causing some problems. I had the feeling they didn't like to eat in dog form.

"You know, Sirius Black broke into the castle on Halloween." The dog turned to me, but I kept my gaze forward. "I don't think he meant to hurt anyone unlike what Dumbledore thinks. I overheard McGonagall and Lupin talking and it seems like they don't either. Honestly, the whole story just seems off. From what I heard he was loyal, brave, sweet, sane, and practically brothers with James Potter. I just don't think the story fits. I mean, what would he have gained from betraying the Potters? He didn't need power, from what I heard he had plenty of that. Wealth as well. Family, well that _was_ the Potters. Then take into account that there was no trial for him. In the muggle world that would never fly, even if they caught him in the act. Makes me wonder why nobody thought to try and help him." I looked at the dog beside me. It was very still, and staring at me in a, dare I say, suspicious manner.

"Anyways, enough of that. You'll never guess what we learned about in Transfiguration! Animigus'! Cool right?" The dog seemed to go even more still, if that was even possible. "You know, I never gave you a name… I like the name Sirius. _Alpha Canis Major_ was always my favorite constellation." It seemed that was enough. Within seconds a pouting and glaring Sirius Black sat next to me.

"How did you know and what will it take to keep you quiet?" He asked. He was far too skinny and way too dirty from his stay in Azkaban. I wondered if he even had a wand or a way of defending himself, let alone enforcing his word.

"Information. I wasn't kidding when I said that I thought you were innocent. I just can't figure out all the details. I've gotten that it was Pettigrew that betrayed the Potters, but I don't know how he could do that, but all the blame still went to you. I also know that he killed the muggles and that it was a distraction, so he could escape, but other than apparition, I can't figure that out either. Magical transportation is still a mystery to me." I admitted, not worried about this man spreading my secret, or anyone believing him.

"Wow… well, umm. You know what a Fidelus Charm is?"

"No… I should probably mention that I'm muggleborn, so you may need to clarify some things for me." I winced slightly, but I had already given myself away. I wondered if I was supposed to know what a Fidelus Charm was, it seemed he had expected me to.

"Muggleborn? In Slytherin?" His brow rose but he seemed kind of happy about the circumstance. "That must bother the pureblood snobs."

"Yeah… it's a secret so don't go blathering to anybody. Lupin knows, but that was more of a quid pro quo situation with his… affliction." His eyebrows rose in surprise, but he nodded.

"Well, basically, it guards the house. It makes it untraceable. There is only one person who knows the location, and nobody can tell someone else unless they, the secret keeper that is, tells you. I was meant to be the secret keeper for the Potter's house. I knew everyone would know it was me though, so at the last second, we switched to Peter.

"Only James, Lily, and I knew of the change. I thought Remus was the spy, he wasn't around as much and we all knew there was a spy in our ranks. Turns out he was doing Dumbledore's bidding with werewolf packs. Peter was the spy and told _Him_ the location.

"When I went to check on Peter on November 1, he wasn't at the safe house. I rushed to James' but it was destroyed. James and Lily were dead, but Harry had lived. I grabbed him, but I was furious, so when Hagrid showed up I let him take Harry and my bike. I went after Peter. He blew up the street, cut off his finger, and… he was an animagus as well. A rat; he ran into the sewers.

"All three of us became animigus' when we found out about Remus. We went with him on the full moon after we finally achieved it. We are unregistered. That's how I broke out of Azkaban and how I stayed sane while there."

"But why now? Why break out _now_? After all these years. And if you always could, why didn't you?"

"Fudge was there. He gave me a newspaper, I told him I missed the crossword." I chuckled at that, earning a smile from the man next to me. "On the front page was a photo of the Weasley family in Egypt. They won the lottery."

"I know, the twins are my only friends. Not that anybody knows they're my friends. They know of my parentage as well."

"Well, also in the picture was the youngest boy, Ron's, familiar."

"Yes, a…" My eyes widened in horror.

"Rat, with a missing toe." I looked at Sirius in shock.

"He's… Ron calls him Scabbers and lets him sleep in the same bed. That's just so wrong!" Sirius started laughing, he didn't seem able to stop for a few moments.

"God, that's what you focus on! You really are an enigma. I mean, you are a muggleborn Slytherin, you are far too curious, you found out about Remus' affliction pretty early, and you even seem on good terms with the centaurs in the forest."

"They accepted me and the twins into their herd in my first year." I defended myself, not negating the other things he had listed. My priorities _were_ a little skewed.

"And if I remember correctly, you said you were with one of them when they passed. I am sorry for your loss. You seemed to care for him."

"I did. I'm sorry for your loss as well, and I don't mean the Potters… well I do, but I also mean the time you've lost. You went without trial, it was unfair."

"I agree, but the world is seldom fair. Say, how did you know it was me?" I allowed him to change the topic and to get by without answering my third question.

"You weren't acting like a dog when I first saw you. Also, your eyes are far to expressive for you to hide a human mind. At first, I was confused, but the _second_ we learned about animigus' I knew you were one. It didn't take a _leap_ to figure out who it was, barely even a little hop. Even if you are unregistered, breaking into the castle only a day after I saw you staring at it contemplatively was pretty obvious proof." He nodded.

"I should probably go. The dementors are still looking for me and I don't have the strength to cast my patronus, and I doubt you can cast one yet. I don't want you getting hurt." Again I wondered if he had a wand, or if he was just pretending he did.

"Do you even have a wand to protect yourself with?" He stared at the ground and didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I know some wandless magic, enough to get by, but there is a reason I can't cast my patronus at the moment."

"I can order one from Ollivander's for you. You can pay me back after we prove your innocence. I have plenty of money, so it won't be a problem. What wood, core, length, and flexibility was your old wand?"

"Yew, dragon heartstring, 13 inches, and mediocre. Thank you for this, I will pay you back when I can."

"I'm going to talk to Bane, they can provide you with refuge in the forest. A place to stay that's nicer than where ever you are now, plus the promise of food every day rather than just when I have time to get out here. The dementors don't go near the forest so you should be safe at camp."

"You don't need to do that."

"Shut up, transform, and follow me." I stated as I stood. I gathered the food that remained after Sirius' munching as he talked and then headed for the forest, with Sirius trailing behind me in his dog form. We walked for a little while before we ran into Firenze halfway to camp.

"Lily, what are you doing walking the forest alone?" He asked, barely glancing at the dog with me.

"I have a favor to ask of the tribe. Lalinna in particular." Firenze nodded his head.

"Would you like an escort?"

"I'm sure you're busy. I'll be fine for the rest of the way. Its not far." Firenze nodded and left for his post. We continued, arriving at the camp not ten minutes later. Sirius had stopped on the edge of the camp, not wanting to enter without permission. I left him there and retrieved Bane, who was currently the leader of the tribe, and Lalinna, Ronan's widow.

"What is it that you need child?" Bane asked kindly.

"A favor. Lalinna, you told me that if there was anything you could do to repay me, I need only ask. This would be me asking. Bane I need your permission as head of the tribe."

"Of course, Lily, what is it?" Lalinna asked. I turned to the dog that sat just outside of camp, both centaurs looked to see him. I led them closer.

"Sirius, please transform." He seemed hesitant but did as I told. "This is Sirius Black, as I'm sure you are aware. I believe him innocent of his crimes. I have no proof, but some theory and his word. I am asking that you trust my judgement here." Both of them seemed shocked and on guard.

"Lily, what exactly are you asking of us?" Bane asked.

"Refuge for him." As I expected, Bane simply stared at me, unimpressed. Lalinna, though, looked at me in curiosity.

"Explain this theory for us please." She asked, placing a hand on Bane's arm to still him from denial of my request. I explained everything I had worked out on my own and then had Sirius explain everything from his point of view.

"This seems more of a tale than of truth." Lalinna stated, but Bane appeared to be thinking.

"You say this rat, Pettigrew, is with the Weasley family's youngest boy?" He asked, I smiled, thinking that my plan worked.

"Yes, probably has been for the past twelve years since he framed me." Sirius stated.

"And that you went to Azkaban _without_ trial?"

"Yes." I knew that would hit Bane as inexcusable, tipping his decision in our favor. Centaurs were very fixed in the tradition of honor and respect for all who returned it.

"Why did Dumbledore not request a trial on your behalf? Surely he was the one who cast the charm. As I understand it that is complex magic. Three wand holders of barely 20 wouldn't be able to cast it without help." That _hadn't_ occurred to me.

"I have wondered that many times through the years. The only answer that I can come up with is that, without me in the way, he could shape Harry however he pleased. Manipulate him to his every whim. Raise him like a pig to slaughter for the Dark Lord. He wants to end this war, no matter the cost. We are but pawns in his scheme and it seems my part was played for the time being."

"Then you do not believe the war ended? The Dark Lord gone?" Bane asked.

"No, I do not. A rebounding curse, even the killing curse, wouldn't have killed him like that. I know his kind, I'm related to his kind, probably to him himself, I know that he had back-ups. Horcruxes are my guess." Bane nodded. I wondered at the word, but pushed it away, it wasn't my concern at the moment.

"We will grant you refuge here for as long as you need it on two conditions."

"Which are?"

"You must get that rat away from the Weasley's. Fred and George are both important to our kind and we don't like them near that kind of people."

"I was planning on doing that anyway."

"The second is slightly more… involved. We would like to help. Typically, we do not join in on the disputes of wizards unless our own are injured. Ronan was killed by the effects of Voldemort's being inhabiting a professor. His spirit killed a unicorn and drank its blood. That kill caused a rift. We would like to go against the man responsible for Ronan's death on a fundamental level. We wish to be kept informed and I feel that you may get more information than Lily, or even the twins, would due to your age and status with Dumbledore and the Order he leads."

"That seems very doable. Though I may need to send some information with Lily in the future. I do not want to overstay, nor take your hospitality for granted. The second I can, I will move on to living in one of my family's homes. At the moment that is not possible. First, I need to clear my name to Remus, he looks after my properties and if he knew I was there… it would not be good until he knows the truth." Bane nodded in agreement.

"So, we have an agreement."

"We do."

"Good, Lalinna will have everything set up for you. I do ask that you abide by our laws during your stay, Mr. Black." Bane bowed his head, the same way he had to me in the beginning. I was pleased to note that Sirius bowed back.

"I would not ascertain to do otherwise. I am your guest after all." Bane smiled.

"Come, we shall introduce you around camp." Lalinna stated as she pulled Sirius along.

"And I shall escort _you_ back to the tree line." Bane stated.

"I appreciate you doing this Bane." I stated with a yawn. Bane smiled softly at me. He seemed to debate something before he stopped walking and kneeled on the ground.

"May I offer you a ride, my child?" I glanced at Bane.

"Would that not be disrespectful?" I asked.

"It may be seen that way for someone to take a ride forcibly, or to offer a ride to one who is uninjured and not one of the herd. You, however, are a child of the pack and thus it is perfectly acceptable. Besides, you appear dead on your feet with you mind in the stars. I wouldn't want you to get injured. Now, get on before I change my mind." I smiled at Bane and slowly slipped onto his back. He stood and walked slowly, so as to not jostle me, back to the tree line. I laid my head on his shoulder as I rode side saddle. When we arrived at the tree line, he knelt once more to allow me off his back.

I was exhausted as it was rather late by this point in the day. The twins were waiting by the tree line with soft smiles on their face's. I wondered how they knew but decided to ask at another time. The two of them walked me back to the castle and all the way to the corridor with my common room before finally leaving me to my own devices. They hadn't said anything, but I got the feeling that they knew something about what I had been up to. The curiosity in their eyes gave them away.

I met the twins in our empty classroom two days later and was prepared for us to study. Instead, I found them, sans books, with worried looks on their faces. We were due to start studying potions today, but their books appeared to be _missing_.

"What's going on?" I asked, getting the feeling that something was up.

"We, well…" Fred looked to George to continue, seeming to have trouble coming up with the words for one of the first times _ever_.

"Please don't be upset, and don't get mad."

"We've come to a decision and we know our mother won't be happy. We really need some support from somewhere." I looked at them and sat across from them.

"Go on, I'm listening, and I don't judge." Heaven knows I'd be a hypocrite if I did.

"We don't want to do…"

"Well, that's not exactly true. We _do_ want to, but we… umm…"

"Spit it out and deal with the fallout." I told them. This wasn't normal, they never had trouble expressing themselves. It was a part of their charm. This meant that whatever it was, was something they were truly scared to tell me.

"We are only going to get three OWLs." They stated in sync. I remained silent.

"Okay, so, we know its not going to make anybody happy," Fred started, not being able to take the silence.

"But, we want to open a joke shop, make our own products." George explained, following his brother's lead.

"So… we really don't need all the same qualifications that everyone else might." Fred continued, trying not to look at me while taking peeks to see if I was angry.

"And worse comes to worse, we can always get them at the ministry if our plans go awry." George reassured.

"Okay, which ones then? No point in studying in the classes you don't plan to take exams in. Might as well do your best in the ones you need." Their eyes went wide.

"You mean you're not upset?"

"No. It's your life, your decision. If this joke shop is your dream, no, your ambition than who am I to stop you? Besides, you clearly have this thought out and have some backup plans if things don't go the way you want. Also, I know you are both perfectly capable of getting all the OWLs and NEWTs you could want, but I also know you hate studying. It's really not that surprising."

"Transfiguration, Defense, and Charms." Fred stated with a smile.

"Okay, so we will need to come up with a new schedule. What if you need to make potions for your products?"

"We only need the theory, potions class only really teaches about potions that have already been created, we would need to create our own. We can get all the information we need from books." I nodded.

"So… what happened to you yesterday? We looked at the map and saw you walking from the forest with Bane, we decided to meet you there to see what you were up to..."

"Well, I went to the camp. I didn't really feel like going to Hogsmeade, so I went to see Lalinna." They nodded in acceptance. I have never been able to lie to the twins, as such I knew they knew I was lying. Just like I knew they were downplaying what they knew.

"So, why don't we all study on our own today. I have some reading of my own that I haven't gotten around to yet. I really would like to though." They both nodded and pulled their Charms textbooks from behind them. I pulled out the books I had gotten from the library that talked about patronus'.

"What are you studying?" Fred asked after a while, I looked up to see him inspecting the titles that I had sitting next to me.

"I asked Lupin to help me learn to cast a patronus. He told me to do some reading on the subject first. Did you know that if a dark wizard tried to cast it maggots come out and eat the caster?"

"That's disgusting…" George stated with a gleam in his eyes.

"I wonder if we could replicate that in a non-lethal way." Fred stated with a grin.

"What? With, like, slime or something?" I asked, wondering why anyone would cast that spell on themselves.

"YES!" They both screamed, grins expanding on their faces. For some reason I got the feeling that the studying portion of the day was complete. It was a good thing none of us needed to study all that hard for these things.

"That's genius! Maybe you should be the third and silent partner in our future business endeavors." I rolled my eyes and shook my head ever so slightly.

"Or… we could just marry her, and she would be required to help us!" Fred exclaimed. George looked awed then smiled and turned to look at me with a grin.

"Whatever you guys say." I told them with a grin of my own. The truth was, I had no clue what I wanted to do after I graduated, though helping the twins didn't sound bad. I didn't really know what kind of jobs were available in the wizarding world and I doubted things like potions would be applicable in the muggle world. This thought brought me to something I'd been thinking of since summer began; who would I ask to be my guardian?

"So… are you ever going to tell us what you were doing with the centaurs last night?" Fred asked. I heard the 'and Sirius Black, escaped convict' that went unsaid. As much as I wanted to explain, I didn't want the twins to get in trouble if someone found out they knew where he was.

"Sorry boys, it's a secret between me and someone I won't disclose." I stated, I knew they hadn't bought my lie earlier. "Though I did talk with Lalinna while I was there. She seems to be doing better, finally getting over Ronan."

"That's good." George replied, probably getting what I was hinting at. Plausible deniability and all that. It was something my pranksters were well versed in.

"Yeah, Ronan was a great man, he wouldn't want her to remain fixated on his death for the rest of her life." I nodded.

"We should probably get going. We have practice today," George stated, "Don't spend too much time reading, we might need to rescind our offer of marriage."

"Hey, boys, before you go, an I ask you a question?"

"Sure Buttercup." I scrunched my face. The twins had been trying to find a nickname for me lately. So far, they'd tried sweetheart, pumpkin, princess, snake, and darling. I had vetoed all of them with varying levels of hatred.

"No to Buttercup too then?" I nodded, "Duly noted, what's your question?"

"If you had to pick someone to be your guardian how would you decide?" I asked, they looked at each other then at me.

"Well, it would need to be someone I could trust."

"Someone accepting."

"Someone who wouldn't judge."

"Someone who could help you to better your skills."

"Someone who liked you and accepted your friends." I nodded and sat to think about whether I knew someone like that. If I could get away with it, I would get the twins or Bane to be my guardian. Unfortunately, Bane would say no because it would involve dealings with the muggles and other wizards, and the twins weren't old enough.

"Thanks, you two. You should get going. Don't want to upset Wood, lest he keep you out there all night." They nodded and left, closing the door on their way out. Now that I was alone, I continued to read up on the patronus. I ended up missing lunch and dinner in the great hall, so I made a trip to the kitchens and spent some time with the elves while and after I ate. I was still teaching some of the younger ones to read while their parents were busy. If only one of the elves could adopt me.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	15. Year 3: Part V

Christmas passed with no fuss from me. My housemates continued to ignore me during and after the break, not that I minded all that much. It meant more time spent with the twins. Still, I wondered how long this would last. They had to speak to me eventually, right?

Blaise Zabini had spoken to me a few times because we were the only two taking Arithmancy and he needed some help with a problem, but, other than that, nothing. He didn't seem to care that everyone was ignoring me, more just that he didn't feel like talking to me. In other words, nothing had changed between us since the first time we met.

I went out to visit the thestrals over the break and feed them some fresh meat. While I was there I met a blonde girl in the year below me. She was a Ravenclaw and seemed slightly spacey but made for rather nice company. Her name was Luna, but she told me everyone called her Loony. I felt bad for a few seconds before realizing that she didn't seem all that upset by it. Kind of like me with the many names that were hurled my way, they slipped right off. I liked her. She seemed like someone who made good conversation, if a little… fantastical.

Now it was February. Valentines day was quickly approaching, and I would be going without a date. I didn't mind it that much. The boys in my house were rather… idiotic and bigoted. I wasn't particularly interested in any of them. All the boys from other houses refused to even look at me because of my house colors. Well, they talked, but it was typically in hisses and slurs. It usually earned them a glare for their troubles. I decided to visit Lupin on Valentines day and make some progress on my patronus. Hopefully he wouldn't have a date or Hogsmeade duty. The twins had dates apparently. Some girls in Hufflepuff. It was a double date and they were both rather proud of themselves.

At the moment I was storming through the forest with enough ferocity that not even the darkest of creatures would dare to stand in my way. In fact, an acromantula, that seemed to be lying in wait for a victim, scurried out of my path with only a glance at me. I was headed towards the camp and had a plan in mind. The man was daft, that was for sure.

I entered the camp with a glare and a dark aura. Many of the centaurs took one look at me and moved out of the way. Even Bane seemed hesitant to approach. I went straight to the hut that Sirius had been set up in for the time being. I entered without knocking and saw him laying on the ground in his dog form.

"Transform. Now." My voice came out in a deathly calm way and within moments Sirius Black was standing in front of me with a scared look on his face.

"Hello Lily. You know you remind me of another Lily I knew when she was angry." He stated, I ignored him.

"Are you stupid? Did all that time in a cell cause brain damage?"

"No, why?"

"Well, I'm just trying to find some kind of excuse for your utter idiocy!" I snarled. He backed up a step and opened his mouth, probably to make things worse.

"I just needed-"

"I don't care! You need to stop breaking into the castle! You are terrifying the other students! Your name is on everyone's mind and not in a good way. The professors are this close to escorting the students everywhere! I know you want Peter, I know you want revenge, and I know you want to clear your name, but you are going about this all wrong."

"I'm sorry."

"Also, that thing with the Firebolt! You asked me to send the order for you, but did you have to send it to Potter? I thought you wanted it for yourself! A way to get around, but no. You sent it to Potter and caused a rift between his friends. I know you felt bad about his broom, but you could at least have the brain to know that someone would be suspicious. You need to start thinking these things through more."

"I know, okay, I know. I spent 12 years in a tiny concrete cell guarded by things that are designed to make you go insane! My brain isn't exactly in top condition quite yet. Forgive me for being irrational and stupid on occasion. I _am_ thinking things through."

"Fine. But, break into the castle one more time and I will do everything in my power to end you, even if I need to go through some dueling training first. Lupin likes me, I'm sure he would be willing to train me." Sirius blanched slightly at that.

"I wish I could talk to him. Explain things." I nodded and all the anger in my system drained away. All that remained was sympathy for this broken man in front of me. This man that was so beaten down, that couldn't talk to his only surviving friend and godson.

"You said I reminded you of another Lily you knew?"

"Yeah, Lily Evans. She married James, became Lily Potter. Sacrificed herself for Harry. She was a spitfire when she was here. A Gryffindor through and through. James was infatuated since first year when he met her on the train. He chased her for years but she said no every time. Called him a toe-rag. She was a muggleborn too, and immensely powerful. She and you are a lot alike. You would've gotten along if you were in our generation.

"She was good friends with Snape, grew up with him actually. That ended in fifth year when he called her a mudblood while she was trying to stand up for him. Looking back on it, it was understandable on his part, but every time he tried to apologize she wouldn't hear of it. I don't know why though, he seemed sincere enough. Though I think it was because she knew Snape was in love with her."

"Wow."

"Yeah… I know he regretted it, but he blames James and me. As he should, I'll be the first to admit that we were terrible to him. We were the ones bullying him, but he gave as good as he got, and it certainly wasn't one-sided. He hated us just as much as we did him, from the first meeting ironically. Then there was that prank."

"What prank?"

"If I tell you, will you promise not to hate me?"

"I suppose. I don't really like Snape all that much. At first, I respected him, but… I don't know. Something about him just isn't right. He's very rude to people and judges them based on every single thing they do wrong. It goes against my values and I find it especially bad for a teacher to exhibit this trait." He nodded.

"I saw him lurking, listening in on a private conversation. I mentioned going to the Shrieking Shack on a full moon. I knew he would follow us or investigate for himself. That's were Remus transformed each month. Probably does now as well, since he's here and all. James caught on when he heard footsteps. He saved Snape's life and got him away from there, but not before Snape saw Remus transform into his werewolf form."

"Sirius… that's… not a prank."

"I know. I really do. It's not really an excuse but, I might have an explanation, if you're willing to hear it?"

"I'd like to hear the full story, go ahead."

"I grew up in a rather… abusive, environment. My parents were a fan of discipline. Particularly in the form of the unforgivable curses. I grew up under the assumption that pain was a good punishment, was right even. I also watched as they cursed guests who misbehaved according to pureblood etiquette. They had a set of cursed tea spoons. If you dared lick the spoon after stirring your tea, the spoon would curse your tongue to turn black and fall off. My family wasn't even close to light and made no efforts in hiding it.

"They blasted me off the family tree in my fifth year. I went to live with the Potters. They were better, but I had years of that shit ingrained in my memory. That's 15 years of conditioning to be a horrible person and only two learning that what they did was wrong. I made a mistake and I tried to apologize to Snape for it. I did to Remus as well, he didn't accept it at first. The thing is, when I went to apologize to Snape, he started spouting off about telling everyone about Remus and calling him all these derogatory names. I just couldn't find it in myself to be sorry to him anymore. I ended up cursing him instead. Then we never talked again. I wouldn't be surprised if Snape tried to get me kissed."

"That's horrible. He really didn't make a very good Slytherin either. We're all for cunning and ambition. People tend to translate that to evil. Its not. He apparently thought it meant being a terrible person that is superior to everyone else. The people in my house often do. There are a few who understand though. Being a Slytherin is about knowing what you want and going for it. If you collect information, you keep it to yourself, willingly mind you, and use it for your own gain later on if you need to. It's also about loyalty, and not just to your own house."

"I wish someone had made that speech to me when I was younger. I might've had a better relationship with my brother if they had. He was sorted into Slytherin, a year younger than me. I usually took his punishments for him when I could. When he was put in Slytherin we drifted apart. He joined the Death Eaters and died by Voldemort's hand soon after if what I heard was true."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I am too."

"Lily, its starting to get late. You should be heading up to the castle." Bane stated from where he stood in the door to the hut.

"Thank you, Bane, I'll only be a few more minutes. Sirius is going to walk me back." I stated.

"I will?" He asked once Bane had left.

"You will." I rose to my feet and Sirius transformed. He walked me to the tree line before turning and heading back to camp while I went back to the castle for dinner. I saw the twins looking my way more than a few times and got the feeling they knew about Sirius and were waiting for me to explain. I was just happy they were giving me the benefit of the doubt about this and not reporting me for harboring a fugitive. I was doubly glad that they trusted my judgement enough, otherwise I was sure they would have no issues yelling at me for being irresponsible. Which I probably deserved anyway. Me and my curiosity. It is destined to get me killed one day.

My plans to meet with Remus on Valentines day were scrapped when I found out he would be going down to Hogsmeade. As such, I went as well. It was probably a good thing since I still needed to find a gift for the twin's birthday, which was coming up soon. I had an idea of what to get them, but only an idea and I had no clue if I could get it for them in Hogsmeade.

They had talked about giving the map to Harry, and I had agreed that it was a good idea. As such I was on the lookout for him in Hogsmeade as I wondered around. The twins had their dates today, otherwise I would be getting the grand tour. I walked around for a little while, glancing at the many shops that lined the main road of the little, snow-covered village.

While staring at the ground I noticed something peculiar; footprints in the snow where no person stood. I grinned.

I followed them from a distance. It had to be Harry, right? I saw the ghost take a sucker from Neville before eventually dropping it on the ground. That was rude, but I could overlook it I guess. We continued walking until we reached a clearing. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were tormenting Granger and Weasley. Again.

I watched as the footprints approached them, and then I watched as the scene unfolded. Potter terrified the three goons with snowballs and ghost wedgies. It was quite humorous to watch. They had yelled ghost and ran away. I wondered why they were so scared, there were ghosts at the castle.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed when he removed a cloak and was suddenly visible. I approached the trio as quietly as I could. None of them noticed me until I cleared my throat. All three jumped and turned to me wide eyed.

"You know, if you wanted to get one over on Malfoy, there were much easier ways of doing so." I told him. At first he didn't seem to know how to react before a small smile came to his face.

"Umm…"

"You also know that you shouldn't be here? What with not having permission and all. Oh, and that there's the crazed maniac that everyone seems to think is after you? Do you go looking for danger, Potter?" I asked.

"Look, Snake-" I cut the red head off mid sentence.

"I think we talked about how I prefer to be talked to, and I think you should revise the next words that come out of your mouth." He stopped talking instantly and settled for a glare instead.

"I got my form signed. I'm free to be here." Harry stated. Even if I hadn't known otherwise form the twins, I knew he was lying. His face gave him away.

"Have you ever heard the saying 'you don't get in trouble for lying, you get in trouble for lying badly' before?"

"Umm… I don't think that's a saying." Hermione stated, her brow furrowed in thought.

"It is, I can assure you. My point, Potter, is that you need to learn to lie. You also need to learn that feet leave marks in snow, cloak of invisibility or no. Also, did you have to take _Neville's_ sucker? Doesn't he have enough going wrong for him?"

"You seem awfully-"

"Don't finish that sentence red." I stated with a glare to Ronald, he seemed rather put out by this point. "Well, I best be off. I have some birthday gifts to purchase for some people. I just wanted to say good job. You just became a close second to Buckbeak on my list." I turned and walked back into the village, leaving three confused Gryffindors behind. Now to find the perfect gifts for the twins.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	16. Year 3: Part VI

April first came with a massive prank in the great hall and the twins making an entrance. I laughed along with the rest of the student body as they marched into the hall with a mariachi band on their heels, made up of some confused looking first years.

Later on I sat in the empty classroom, waiting for them to visit me. When they arrived, I handed them each a wrapped parcel without explanation. I hoped they liked their gifts and that they didn't get offended at what I had given them.

"I actually had a lot of fun buying for you two this year." I told them, starting to ramble as I had the habit to do when nervous.

"What did you get us?" George asked as he hefted his parcel up and down, getting a feel of it before he opened it.

"Open it and see you morons." They both ripped into their packages with vigor after being given permission. The room decended into silence and I had to repress the urge to ramble. It was funny, I never really rambled around anyone but the twins. Sure I bartered, bantered, or snarked when annoyed or under pressure, but never rambled… that I knew of that is.

When I finally gained the courage to look at them and see their reactions, Fred was looking at the book on potions theory in surprise. I knew they were aware how much it cost and how unlikely it would've been that they could afford it on their own. It was a rare book and an even rarer print that had extended explanations and extra chapters. It would have cost them a fortune, but to me it was closer to a few months allowance.

George was holding a small velvet bag. He was holding it open so he could peer inside and his eyes were bulged out of his head at the sight that he was met with. Inside the bag was a number of galleons. Not a small number either. The bag had an expansion charm on it and was charmed so that only they could open it and remove the money. They needed money if they wanted to start their own business and they weren't going to get it through selling products if they had no products to sell.

They looked at me with wide eyes when I offered a delicate cough, reminding them that I was in the room. Their eyes told me that they were about to give it all back, stating it was too much, so I intervened before they could speak.

"Think of it as an investment in your business. I rather like the idea of being a silent partner and I have more than enough money to help you get started. Use it however you like, its yours. The bag has protection and anti-thieving charms on it, so you don't need to worry. All I ask is that you keep me updated on any products you come up with and use both gifts wisely. I do want you both to survive the product creation stages, which is why I got you that particular volume… it has the extra chapters which include safety procedures." They both looked at the book and Fred opened it to view the index, noting that it was indeed the rare volume that had extra information. They looked at me with pleading expressions and I returned a harsh one in return. They rushed forward and engulfed me in their strong arms.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." Fred was repeating. They both had tears in their eyes and it occurred to me that this was probably the first time that anyone had encouraged them to follow their dream, let alone helped them with it. It probably helped that I'd just given them extremely expensive gifts as a start-up.

"You really didn't need to do this." George whispered. Fred nodded and squeezed me harder to his chest, he was still saying thank you under his breath.

"Yes, I did." I mumbled into their chests as I hugged them back. "Now, get going, you probably have a party to get to in your common room. Don't let me hold you up." Both retracted their arms and wiped their faces. They smiled at me as I pushed them towards the door.

Then I was alone once more, this time with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my chest. It felt good to help them, knowing that they would do the same for me if the situation was reversed. I decided to make the best of my time and went down to the defense against the dark arts corridor. Perhaps this was the happy memory that the books told me I needed.

"Professor? I was wondering if you would supervise my casting of the patronus charm?" Lupin looked up from his desk where he was marking some papers. He had left his office door open, so I had just entered when I arrived, knocking lightly on the door before I spoke so I didn't startle him.

"I guess I do need a break from my marking. Why don't we go into the classroom?" He stood and led the way through the side door that connected the two rooms. "Do you have a happy memory to use?" He asked as he turned to face me. I paused, thinking about all the time I'd spent with the twins and the centaurs.

"Can I use a collection of memories rather than just one?"

"You can, so long as they make you happy, they should work. Now, close your eyes and focus on those memories, on how they make you feel. Let that feeling fill you up. Then open them, point your wand, and say the incantation _Expecto Patronum_. Got it?" I closed my eyes in answer.

I thought of the feeling I got when the twins, and later the centaurs, accepted me as one of their own. The feeling I had felt when the twins wrapped their arms around me in a sign of protection. That feeling that I get anytime I spend time with the elves, just talking or helping them. The same one that I got anytime the twins pulled off a particularly interesting prank or asked me to help them with one. The feeling I had when my parents gave in and told me I could come to Hogwarts. The feeling I got when Bane allowed me to rid on his back because he viewed me as a member of his herd, as his kin. The feeling I had just felt, knowing that I made the twins so happy.

Those feelings filled my body and pulled at my lips, making it hard to conceal my emotions. I didn't even bother trying at this point. My eyes snapped open. I didn't shout the words. Shouting them didn't represent the warm feeling that filled me. The level of emotion may have called for it, sure, but I let the _type_ of emotion rule over. The _feeling_ of the emotion.

"Expecto Patronum," I whispered, the words still echoing in the otherwise silent and empty room, just as the memories did in my head.

A silvery mist burst forth from my wand. It swirled through the air and began to form different shapes, seeming to have trouble choosing just one. It was still swirling, seeming to try and form a shape of some kind at the very least. It began to form scales and feet, but those changed to wings and talons. Its body closely followed, forming a aerodynamic shape covered in feathers for a light flight.

Now, flying around the room, was a vulture. It was beautiful and majestic. Lupin looked shocked that I had apparently gotten the spell on the first go. I inspected the bird as it flew and decided that it suited me.

"Wow…" Lupin commented as the bird faded away after landing on my shoulder. "I honestly thought it might take you longer to cast the spell. It is very impressive to have gotten it on the first try. Especially considering your age and level of training."

"Thank you." I replied, taking his words as a compliment.

"I've been teaching Harry as well. Though, his progress is stunted by the boggart dementor I've been pinning him against. If only he would be more reasonable and learn to cast it on his own before he tried against something."

"Really?" I paused for a moment. "Do you think I might be able to try and cast against that?" I had no real interest in doing so, but the curiosity got to me again.

"We would have no way to change it into a dementor I'm afraid. Based on your reaction in class, I doubt they are what you fear most." That made sense at least. I liked Lupin, he usual avoided beating around the bush.

"I suppose not. Thank you for helping me though." I returned, still in good spirits.

"It was of no consequence to me. You are a brilliant student Miss Moon."

"Do you know what the Vulture symbolizes?" I asked, genuinely curious. He seemed like the type who would know.

"Adaptability, trust, loyalty, renewal, resourcefulness, unconventionality… not to mention it does not fear death." He responded. "It fits quite well from what I know about you." His head was tilted to the side and his eyes held a measure of amusement. I thought about that before nodding slightly.

"It does…" I replied with a grin. He wasn't wrong.

"You should be going now; dinner will be starting soon. Wouldn't want you to miss it." I turned to leave when his voice stopped me. "Just out of curiosity, what was your memory?"

"It wasn't really a memory that I focused on. I thought of the feeling I get when I spend time with the herd, or with the twins, or the elves. When Fred and George play a good prank, when they ask me for help with a prank. The acceptance I readily get from them and the centaurs. The feeling I had when my parents consented to me coming to Hogwarts… I guess it was more the _feeling_ of happiness rather than the memory of it. After all, its better to _be_ happy than to reminisce on happiness, right?" He nodded, and I could've sworn I saw a soft smile on his lips for a moment before it disappeared. I left the room without any further questions, secure in the knowledge that I had the skill to cast such an advanced charm.

On the day of Buckbeak's scheduled execution I made the decision to say goodbye to the proud beast. I was on my way down when I heard Granger's voice from the top of the hill. Standing next to the column that led into the castle, I watched the proceedings from a distance, not that either group saw me or paid any attention to my presence.

When Granger held her wand to Malfoy's throat I grinned slightly. She was finally growing a backbone it seemed. When she punched him and sent him packing with fear in his eyes, I almost went over and hugged her. He ran past me on his way to the hospital, to complain no doubt, but paid no mind to me as I leaned against the wall.

"This year just keeps getting better and better." I whispered in awe as I stood up straight again. I could've sworn I heard a snort from the other side of the column, but I let it go. It had sounded suspiciously like Potter, but he was at the base of the hill. Sound traveled, but not like that.

The three were watching the hippogriff get executed and I didn't particularly want to see that. It seemed my delay meant that I wouldn't get to say goodbye. To avoid the sight of another innocent creature dying, I walked in the opposite direction of Hagrid's hut and towards the forest's edge. It was as good a time as any to see Sirius. I also needed to decide on a floral arrangement to send Hermione. She was my new hero and she deserved it. Plus, Sirius, being raised a pureblood, probably knew the language of flowers better than I did.

When I arrived at camp after hearing some rather… _disturbing_ screams, I was informed that Sirius wasn't around. I growled and cursed that man in my head. What was his problem?

I began to march back toward the castle but froze momentarily, listening to the sounds of the forest.

Was that a howl? It sounded like one and it seemed kind of close.

I was starting to regret not accepting Bane's offer for an escort. He and Firenze were outright fighting now. I didn't want to get in the middle, nor did I want to deal with an angry centaur. They were the worst when angered.

I walked a little further and a little faster, but stopped still when I saw Harry and Hermione huddled against a tree. Then Hermione howled, and I got a good look of what they were looking at. It was Harry and a werewolf, likely Lupin.

Wait, _Harry_?

There were two Harrys.

Well this was interesting.

Hermione howled again, attracting the wolf's attention. You know, like an idiot. It started running toward the forest and Hermione ordered Harry to run, realizing the faulty logic she had just experienced. I decided to follow their lead to avoid a life of pain as a werewolf.

"What is wrong with you two? Can't you go _one year_ without attracting deadly trouble?" I asked as I caught up to run next to them. For how often they needed to run away from trouble, you'd think they would be faster.

"What are you even doing out here!?" Hermione asked frustration with just a tinge of surprise clouding her tone. We ran like hell, hearing the wolf behind us, gaining on us. No matter how fast you ran, you couldn't outrun something more agile than you.

Harry tripped over a branch and Hermione stopped to help him. Good god, _Gryffindors_. It only took a few seconds, but it was enough for the wolf to gain even more. We ran a little further and all stood, panting, hiding behind a large tree. If you can't outrun them, than why waste the energy?

"This'll never work. Werewolves have extremely enhanced senses." I whispered to the two of them. Hermione shushed me, and Harry simply looked at me in curiosity again.

We saw Lupin enter the clearing to our right and I pulled Hermione's arm, motioning for her to follow me around the tree. Keeping out of sight would help at least. The wolf was sniffing the air around us, trying to pinpoint our location. He knew we were close. He howled lowly, more a warning than anything else, and Hermione began dragging us further around the tree. I only noticed too late, because I was a little distracted by Harry's death wish, that we had re-entered the clearing. We all turned slowly, now standing face to face with the Lupin, only the length of the clearing separating us.

Lupin was going to be so upset at himself.

"He's quite an intriguing sight up close. The drawings don't do them justice." I remarked, trying to ease the tension. Both looked at me before turning their attention back to the beast. I almost wanted to laugh at their looks of disbelief.

The wolf approached, and Harry pulled both Hermione and I close. I couldn't tell if we were shields or shielded. I could tell Hermione was scared, but I wasn't, and Harry didn't seem to be either. Oddly, the wolf's approach reminded me of a hippogriff's. It made me wonder for a split second before I remembered my circumstances.

Suddenly, Buckbeak, apparently not dead and reading my mind, came out of nowhere. He attacked the wolf and gave us a chance to run. Not that we did, because… you know… _reasons_. We stayed behind the winged creature as it challenged the wolf. Eventually the wolf, not looking for a fight, ran in the opposite direction and Buckbeak settled in front of us. He preened at the success, representing his proud nature quite well.

"That was so scary." Hermione whispered, seeking comfort from her friend. I looked at her and considered that statement. It was understandable, but I didn't exactly agree. I was used to interacting with acromantulas on a weekly basis though, so I guess that might explain why.

"Poor Professor Lupin's having a really rough night." Harry commented. Hermione hit him on the shoulder and glanced at me.

"Hey, don't look at me! I agree with Harry. This really isn't his night. I mean those transformations have got to hurt, and he told me they tend to leave him far too tired the next day to even get himself healed sometimes." Both looked at me in shock. I just shrugged at them. You learned things when you thought to ask people about them.

The wind picked up and the air began to chill, halting them both from whatever they were going to say. All three of us looked up to see dementors flying overhead and headed in the direction of the castle. That gave me a bad feeling. Whenever Sirius wasn't at the camp it was because he was doing something stupid near the castle.

"Sirius." Harry stated, confirming my suspicions. Wondering what they might do or how they might react, I decided to state my thoughts out loud. If things went wrong, I could just obliviate them.

"Goddammit, that man is going to be the death of me! Why can't he just listen and stay where I tell him to? Does he not understand laying low? Stupid Gryffindors." Again, both turned to me in shock. So they knew he was innocent… that was _telling_.

"Come on." Harry grabbed both of our hands and dragged us behind him, running in the same direction as the dementors. It didn't take long for us to reach the lake. We stood and watched as Sirius and Harry 2.0 across the way were swarmed by the beings. I would need some explanations soon. This world wasn't ready for there to be two Harry Potters.

"This is horrible." Hermione looked at the scene before her with sad eyes. It seemed that under that studious exterior she was just a big ole softy. I admit it was bad, soul sucking really, but that was life and I assumed that Potter's lessons would kick in. I hadn't practiced with dementors yet, but he had.

"Don't worry my dad will come. My dad will come for the Patronus." I looked at Harry like he was crazy. His dad was dead. I watched on in silence, worry beginning to gnaw at my insides. A dementor swooped past and completely ignored us to arrive at the two across the lake.

"Any minute now." I knew I was missing something, what with there being two Harry's and all, but I got the feeling that Harry was experiencing déjà vu and that the Harry across the lake was the original. "Right there, you'll see." Harry pointed to the sandy area just in front of him. How he expected anyone, dead or not, to arrive in front of us was a mystery.

Sirius was getting killed, not to mention Harry as well. Someone had to do something, but I doubted either of them would listen to me.

"Harry, listen to me, no ones coming." Hermione told him, her voice comforting but offering no wiggle room for interpretation. Well, that helped. What a rousing and encouraging statement. Truly.

"Don't worry, he will. He will come." We watched as the dementor began to suck the soul out of Sirius. I rolled my eyes at him and caught sight of the glimmer coming from the lake. It really was quite nice out here, maybe a good place to do a little soul searching.

"You're dying," Hermione stated, a little more urgency in her voice, "Both of you." Harry stayed still for another moment before running forwards.

" _Expecto Patronum_!" He yelled. It took a few moments, but the brilliant white light began to come forth from his wand. I stepped forward, pulling my wand as well. His patronus alone wouldn't be enough for the number of dementors present. Nobody's would be. That was kind of the point.

" _Expecto Patronum_." I stated calmly, thinking about what made me happy. Harry looked at me in wonder as my wand began to emit a light just as bright as his. The only difference was that mine was clearly stronger than his. Together, our patronus' melded and created a shockwave barrier kind of thing. It chased off all the vile creatures, but even with it I could see Harry 2.0 across the lake swaying, about to pass out. When the area was clear, we both let go of the spell, panting from exertion. Harry 2.0 was lying on the ground, out cold it seemed, and Sirius wasn't moving either. They were both clearly hurt. We remained silent for a few moments waiting for help to arrive.

"Sirius is still alive over there, right? And you too, I guess?" I asked. Both Gryffindors turned to me, Hermione with a particular look on her face.

"You have some explaining to do." Harry stated, curiosity and anger in his voice. This boy, always with the anger.

"No, I don't. I think if anybody should be explaining, it's you two. I mean I was just minding my own business when I stumble across, not one, but two Harry Potters, a werewolf, an escaped convict, and Hermione Granger in the Forbidden Forest after curfew. As well as a hippogriff I'm pretty sure was meant to be executed. Hi Buckbeak." I waved over Hermione's shoulder at the beast that stood there. Both looked at the hippogriff and then at me. "Not to mention the fact that I saw you assault another student earlier. So, are we going to save Sirius from wherever they're taking him? I mean I presume that Pettigrew got away and you haven't cleared his name yet, considering the dementors wouldn't be after Sirius otherwise. That and I doubt you would be roaming the forest."

When we had all boarded the hippogriff, Harry in front and me in the back with Hermione in between us, we took flight. We soared above the clouds, and I couldn't say I was having as much fun as Harry, but I could tell Hermione loathed it. She seemed tense and terrified. When Harry started laughing before diving for the castle, Hermione let out a scream. I guess she really disliked heights. Not that I blamed her, it was a pretty common fear.

We landed on the bell tower that stood in the center of the castle. Sirius was caged in behind some makeshift bars when we arrived. All three of us disembarked from the hippogriff.

I let Harry and Hermione approach the cell and bust Sirius out with a bombarda, the ability to say I was innocent of breaking him out was imperative if he were to get caught again. I stayed with Buckbeak, making sure he stuck around. We would need a way to escape the tower and I doubted any of us could make the jump. When Sirius saw me he paled slightly, losing the smile that had been on his face at his escape. Rightfully so.

"Lily, I can explain… you aren't _mad,_ are you?" He asked cautiously. I could tell he was trying to gage my emotions based on my expression, but he wouldn't be able to. I had been perfecting my mask for years.

"I don't think this is the place for us to discuss my emotions concerning you. Let's get down from here." We all boarded Buckbeak again. The hippogriff was crowded with four people, but it worked. Sirius seemed to have fun at least.

We landed in the center atrium of the castle and got off the tired beast, allowing him to approach the fountain in the center and get a drink.

Sirius stepped away with Harry to have a quick talk. I guessed they hadn't had much time.

"So…" Hermione trailed off, not really knowing what to say to me.

"Yes." I answered with a disarming smile. Her reaction was priceless. Sirius strode towards us and jumped up on the hippogriff.

"You really are the brightest witch of your age. Truly brilliant you are, Hermione." He stated to Hermione. "And you... well, thank you for everything, Lily." He stated. I glared at him. I _would_ get my revenge.

"You are in big trouble Black. Why can't you follow simple orders? Stay at the camp, lie low, don't try to break into Hogwarts again, and don't be an idiot. It really wasn't that complicated. A child could do it. Then again… you are a child, so I guess it was hit or miss." I was happy to see his glare.

"Yes, yes, I know. I apologize. Say hi to Remus for me, will you?" He stated, probably to avoid saying what he really wanted to.

"Oh yes, I will. I also plan on telling him the entire story. I'm sure I will see you again soon. Well, as soon as you meet up with Lupin again. We can have our discussion then."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with wide eyes.

"It means, I've recently become an orphan and need a guardian that isn't my family lawyer. It means that I plan to ask Lupin to be that person and don't plan to take no for an answer. It means that I will be yelling, I mean _talking_ , to you later. Take care of Buckbeak. I like him more than I like you. I'll inform Lalinna and Bane of your departure tomorrow morning." Sirius nodded before he took off into the night with wide eyes.

"I really need to hear this 'whole story'. How long have you known he was innocent? How long have you known about Lupin? What were you doing in the forest tonight? When did you learn to cast a patronus?" Harry asked, Hermione nudged him and motioned to the clock face on her wrist. Harry stared at me for another moment. "I will get my answers…" He stated before the two of them ran in the direction of the hospital wing. They may get their answers, but I would be getting mine as well.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	17. Year 3: Part VII

I heard of Lupin's resignation from the gloating Malfoy was doing the next morning. It was now common knowledge that Lupin was a werewolf and had resigned from his position, effective immediately. And it was all thanks to Snape and Malfoy. Suddenly any respect or trust that Snape had gained in my books was gone. All of this because of a grudge. Granted he had good reason, but this was the man's livelihood. It wasn't like Lupin was telling everyone the truth about Snape being a Death Eater.

I left the common room and began to make my way up to the defense hall. On my way I passed a smug looking Snape. I glared at him when he looked at me, causing surprise to flicker in his eyes for a moment. He paused, and I took that as my cue to do the same.

"Lupin was a good teacher, you didn't need to expose him over a petty grudge on a situation that he had no control over. Werewolf or not, he's still a person." I told him before walking away.

"50 points from Slytherin for-"

"Good. You should take points off. You've been a horrible person lately and destroyed a man's life along the way. It is a scorn to the Slytherin name." I glared at him, spinning to face him. I knew there was ice in my eyes and righteous anger burning behind it. He did too because he stayed silent. For once he seemed to not want to make a retort.

I walked past a sad looking Harry after I had left Snape. I supposed it made sense that he was both sad and leaving Lupin's office. Nothing was going his way right now, first his godfather is still on the run and now his pseudo one is leaving as well. I almost pitied his situation.

"Professor Lupin, I heard you resigned." I stated as I entered his office. He turned to face me, surprise on his face. "I was quite disappointed to tell you the truth. You surpassed the other defense teachers within moments of teaching."

"Miss Moon. What can I do for you?" He asked, ignoring my comments, but smiled to show his appreciation.

"Well, if you're offering, you could always adopt me." His eyes went wide in shock, his jaw dropped, and he fell back into the chair behind him. Lucky placement.

"What?" Maybe I should've waited until he had recovered from the full moon… but then he wouldn't be here, and I would have no way to contact him.

"Well, you see, my parents are dead. My current guardian is the family lawyer. He recommended that I find someone to adopt me from the magical world. I found somebody, now all I need is for him to adopt me." I decided blunt was best for this conversation. He seemed logical for a Gryffindor, maybe he would consider my situation before making a decision.

"Look, Lily, I would, but I can't." Well, now he had agreed, but he still had to realize he had.

"Why not?" I asked, not sounding put out. I could take a guess at what his reasons would be, and I had counter arguments for all of them. While they were understandable, they weren't impenetrable.

"I'm dangerous-"

"I met you in your wolf form last night and I came out of it perfectly fine. If you're really that worried, well, we have time for you to teach me to defend myself from you before the next full moon and I'm a quick study." He had to know that considering he was my professor.

"I'm a werewolf. The general population hate me for what I am." His eyes shown with defiance and curiosity, with just a hint of self hate. I would need to fix that.

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not." "I have enemies. It won't be safe." I rolled my eyes at that and his lips twitched in the imitation of a smile.

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." I stated, not being able to miss the chance to use that quote. I had always wanted to.

"Winston Churchill." He stated with defeat and questioning.

"Lupin, if nobody hates you then you're doing something wrong." I went on to explain. He looked like he wanted to refute that, but remained silent for another few moments, thinking.

"Well, I can barely support myself. How am I meant to support you as well?" He asked. I practically rolled my eyes at him but refrained for obvious reasons.

"I'm filthy rich. I don't _need_ you to support me. Also, since I would still be registered as a foster child that was adopted, you would likely get a stipend from either the Ministry or the muggle government for taking me in and taking care of me." He looked shocked and narrowed his eyes on me. "I have more arguments if you do. Go ahead, I came prepared." I told him as I finally sat in the chair across from him.

"I don't have a house." He sat back, looking like he had won. I grinned, obviously he wasn't aware of my connection to Sirius.

"Not true. You've been living in and taking care of all of Sirius' properties for the past 12 years. He told Bane that was why he couldn't just go stay at one of his properties while we were convincing him to grant Sirius refuge." Lupin sat up, wide eyed with surprise.

"How do you know about Sirius?"

"I found out shortly after Halloween. Actually, it was around the time we learned about animigus' in transfiguration." Lupin nodded, somewhat shocked, "Although, it was actually you who put the idea of his innocence in my head. I overheard you and McGonagall talking on Halloween when you returned to the Great Hall. There were so many questions that I had to ask myself, but all the pieces finally came into place in Transfiguration."

"Okay… but why me?" He asked, giving me a look that conveyed we would be talking about this again later. That was okay. Talking about it later meant there would be a later.

"I can trust you. You're nice and accepting, for obvious reasons considering your own situation, and you know my secret. Plus, I like you, you're interesting and smart enough to teach me things. I would ask the twins, but they aren't quite old enough for it to be legal."

"Why not Molly Weasley then?" I gave him a deadpan expression that I hoped conveyed my feelings on the Weasley matriarch adopting me.

"I've only met her once; last year. Plus, she doesn't know that twins are friends of mine." I paused to give him an open look for the first time since we had met. "Look, I have no family. From what I can tell your only family is an escaped ex-con and the Boy-Who-Lived. I can make your life a little less boring and a little more comfortable and you can make mine a little more interesting and a little safer. You just need to agree." Lupin looked at me closely, looking for a lie in my words. I could tell he wasn't entirely convinced, but I could also see he was warming to the idea.

"I…"

"Tell you what. You take time to think about it. A week even. But _you_ need to think of it, not Dumbledore or McGonagall. _You_ think and decide. If you _agree_ , meet me at Kings Cross on the muggle side. My lawyer is supposed to meet me there with my driver. If you don't then I will continue to stay with my lawyer for another year or until I find another suitable candidate. Now, I will leave you to think, just don't let anybody other than _me_ influence _your_ decision." I left his office, hoping that my words were enough to convince him.

The end of year feast was in full swing when the owl arrived. Everybody paused to watch the owl carrying a large bouquet of pink, yellow, and peach roses fly through the hall, looking for one student in particular.

"Aren't those flowers meant to represent thanks?" Daphne asked Tracy who sat next to her. Everyone watched as the owl eventually landed in front of Hermione Granger. She looked shocked but accepted the gift, plucking the card from the center as the owl flew off. I saw her smile before showing it to Harry, who snorted. I thought back to what I had written on the card:

 _Hermione,_

 _You are my new hero. Your left hook is truly magnificent. I wouldn't have minded seeing you duel with the dolt though. Have a nice summer._

 _Your humble admirer_

When everybody had gone back to their meals she looked across the hall at me. I smiled and raised my cup to her slightly. She just shook her head and turned to talk to Harry. He was looking at me again, still curious it seemed. I smirked at him and he finally looked away, a touch uncomfortable it seemed.

I sat alone in my compartment on the train for a little while before the door burst open, allowing the twins entry. They both sat and began talking all about some of the products they had already come up with. I was happy to listen to them and offer feedback whenever applicable. About five minutes after the train departed the door opened once more. I turned, surprised because nobody ever ventured far enough to reach this cabin.

"There you are! We've been searching everywhere." Hermione stated as she entered and sat to my right. Harry did as well, sitting to my left. Ron entered the compartment last, staring at his brothers quizzically as he did.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked in surprise.

"I think,"

"Ronnikins,"

"That the better question,"

"Would be,"

"What are you doing here?" They asked together. Ron glared at them.

"Ronnikins?" I asked with a smile on my face, finally getting my chance to tease the name. The twins grinned at me while Ron glared at them and then at me. He eventually entered and shut the door, sitting on the bench next to his brothers in the last available seat. This compartment was also smaller than the other ones on the train because of its location.

"The twins ask a good question," I stated, looking at Hermione, "Did you not like the flowers?" The twins looked at me in confusion.

"That was you? Why?" Fred asked, both of them had curiosity that matched, if not rivaled, mine.

"She punched Malfoy in his smarmy little git-face. I simply rewarded good behavior. Pavlov dog style." I had explained some of the thing I had learned about in the muggle world to the twins during one of our many conversations about home life and how none of us really liked it. They grinned at me, getting the reference, and then at Hermione, who had shrunk down in her seat.

"So… the reason we're here. Do the twins know everything as well?" Harry asked.

"No, but they know some and are expecting explanations today." Both twins sat quietly as Harry explained the whole story to them. I would explain my side of it when I had the chance to do so.

"Is that why you were visiting the herd that day?" George asked once the story was over, the want for clarification clear in his voice. I could also hear the underlying 'with Sirius Black' that went unsaid.

"Yup."

"Well, that's better than our theory. We were worried you were going to start a revolution and take Bane's seat of authority. We like Bane though, so it would've been hard to decide who to root for." Fred stated with a grin, throwing the others off the scent. I rolled my eyes. I knew they would pick me. We had already had this discussion before.

"So. Explain." Harry stated, looking at me intensely. Hermione's eyes burned into the back of my head as I turned to look at him. At least Ron wasn't staring at me. He was a bit busy looking at his brothers, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Fine. I've known about Sirius since we learned about animigus' because I had already met him in his dog form. I simply made the connection. I've had my suspicions about him being innocent since Halloween, though. They were only confirmed when we finally talked.

"I've known about Lupin since before the train left the station in September. I mean his name is literally Raised-by-Wolves Wolf! I commented on it and we entered a quid pro quo agreement. He is keeping my secret and I would have kept his.

"I was in the forest because I was going to visit Sirius at the centaur camp that I had set him up in. The centaurs have accepted the twins and I as part of their herd. I go and see them as often as I can. Bane is a good friend, as is Firenze. Ronan was as well before he passed last year, and Lalinna was his wife. She owed me a favor for taking her place by his side while he died.

"As for my patronus, well, before you. I asked Lupin for some help. He gave me a few books to read, I did and then went to see him. I cast it on the first go. It wasn't long before you I think, though he did mention that you were learning." I explained the bare minimum, not exactly keen on telling them everything when they could turn around and tell everyone else. They weren't exactly _good_ at keeping secrets. I would tell the twins later, when they inevitably asked.

"What-" Hermione began.

"Now it's my turn." I interrupted. They'd had their questions answered, now it was my turn. "What the hell happened that night, and I want the full story, including why there were two Harry Potters." I looked at them with a good impression of McGonagall and they began to tell their story. By the time they were finished I was both astounded and confused. The train was also nearing the station.

"What kind of _responsible adult_ trusts a _child_ with such a powerful device?! Dumbledore is far madder than I thought." I stated.

"You were right about the conga lines Lily." George commented. I had ranted to the duo about Dumbledore on countless occasions.

"Yeah, and here we just thought he was mad for having a crush on Lockhart." Fred stated. I snorted at the inside joke while the other three looked confused and vaguely disgusted.

"Anyway…" Harry began, "Did you manage to convince Lupin to take custody of you? Also, sorry to hear about your parents."

"Don't be, we were never close. I wasn't all that upset at their passing. As for Lupin, well, I'm about to find out. If he's here then he accepted, if not then I'm off with my family's lawyer to live there another year."

"When did you say that your parents passed?" Hermione asked with a peculiar look on her face.

"Day before we left Hogwarts last year." I replied. I knew she already knew or had suspicions and her eyes widened slightly before they narrowed on me.

"Your last name is _Moon_ , isn't it?" Harry's eyes went wide in realization and he looked at me an understanding lighting his eyes.

"Don't say a word." I growled at the two. The twins must have recognized the situation and took action.

"Ron let's go. We need to go see Percy and find Ginny. Mom's orders. She wants to get us home as soon as possible and that means we all need to stick close." George stated before dragging Ron from the compartment. He called his farewells over his shoulder and Ron did as well through his protests about being dragged away.

"See you in September Lils." Fred stated as he gave me a hug before leaving the compartment and shutting the door.

"You're a _muggleborn_?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, and I'm sure you can understand the need for secrecy considering my house. You know well enough what happens to muggleborns in the presence of Slytherins and purebloods."

"How do they not _already know_?" She whispered. I suppose it was quite the shock. Not only was I a muggleborn in Slytherin, but my parents were rather well known in the muggle world. Thousands from around the world had shown up for their funeral last year.

"The muggle elite are raised a certain way. You know my family was rich and so that mixed with my manner and the way I hold myself… well they just assumed when I was sorted into their house that I was pureblood. I just never corrected them. Snape, the twins, Sirius, Lupin, and the headmaster know. _That's all_. Though they do think that I'm a halfblood now. Especially after the whole chamber of secrets debacle. They didn't recognize my name, and I told them my family has only been in the U.K. for the past 2 generations and that my parents weren't overly social."

"Neither of which are lies. You just never said that they were muggles." Harry stated, noticing what I was hinting at, I nodded.

"I would prefer if you didn't tell Ronald. I get the feeling he can't keep a secret."

"Your secret is safe with us." Hemione promised, Harry nodding along, still in shock.

"Is this the secret that you told Lupin in your quid pro quo?" I nodded, confirming Harry's hypotheses. The train pulled into the station but the three of us remained seated. They waited with me as everyone left the platform rather quickly. None wanted to stick around considering Sirius Black was still on the loose.

"Come on, we should get going." I told them as I stood. We were all dressed in our muggle clothing and we all ran through the barrier, one after the other, our trunks in tow.

Hermione smiled at me before she broke off and went to a pair of smiling adults off to the side. Her parents I assumed. They seemed nice. The three of them left the station already in conversation about school.

Harry looked around before walking over to a rotund walrus of a man and a rather stuck up looking women. Neither seemed happy to see the other party. They left as well, no reunion to be had. I was slightly worried about that.

"Don't worry. They may treat him horribly, but he'll be fine. There's always someone watching the house. Plus, they now know that Sirius is his godfather." I spun around to see the bemused face of Remus Lupin. I grinned and launched myself at him, engulfing him in a hug. He was surprised but hugged me back after a few moments of uncertainty.

"Thank god you're here. I like my lawyer but last summer was the most awkward experience of my relatively short life." I told him when we separated. He huffed a laugh.

"Well, I assume there will be paperwork that needs to be done. Lead the way." He waved me forward, taking the handle of my trolley and pushing it himself. The next few days would be full of paperwork, but I knew it would be worth it.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize. The end of third year has arrived.**


	18. Year 4: Part I

I had one of the best summers of my life. Spending time with Remus and Sirius was a blast after the initial awkwardness.

That is, after the mountain of paperwork that had to be done was finished. Luckily, Remus was a halfblood with a muggleborn mother and he tended to work in the muggle world, so he was familiar with it and had all the proper papers he needed to apply for adoption. Since I was already 13 the government was a little easier to deal with during the process. The adoption got pushed through and Remus magically adopted me the day after the muggle side was finished and approved.

Of course, Remus started to train me to defend myself against werewolves as soon as the process was complete. Sirius was disapproving but helped once he had arrived back from his quick trip to Spain. On an unrelated note, we had a pet hippogriff named Witherwings. He seemed to be related to Buckbeak, his coloring was very similar.

Around the beginning of August, they mentioned that the Weasley's were going to the World Cup and asked if I would want to go as well. I had responded with a scrunched-up face before turning back to my book. Remus had laughed while Sirius had devolved into a rant about how quidditch was amazing. Remus and I had just ignored him until Remus had enough and silenced him.

When the prophet arrived the day after the cup, Sirius ate his words. He went on a three-hour rant about how his cousins are so _rude_ and _uncouth_. He also explored such topics as: they better not touch Remus, they better not hurt Harry, they better not go near any of Harry's friends or the Weasleys, and they better not even think of entering the general vicinity of Lily. Around then he noticed that I shared a common room and dorm with his cousins or their children. He had gone even further off the handle. It was nice to know I was cared for, but the rant was a little excessive. The rant only ended when Remus had me promise to come home for every break _and_ take dueling lessons with both of them. It was a fair trade.

Remus brought me to the platform super early, as was my tradition. Sirius had wanted to accompany us, but we had both vetoed that idea and said our goodbyes before I left. They told me that they were going to spend some time at each of the Black family homes to try and find a better place to live. Somewhere safer, just in case the world cup wasn't a fluke.

While I would miss our current place, I agreed, because why not? Extra experience dueling never hurt anyone… after they learned that is.

The train ride had been uneventful this year, which put me on edge for what the rest of the year would entail. The twins still sat with me and regaled me with tales of their mischief over the summer. This year Harry, Hermione, and Ron had joined us as well. Ron mostly ignored me, but the other two had joined in on the story telling where they could. Harry told me to thank Remus and Sirius for the cakes they sent, and Hermione told me all about her trip to Paris with her parents. In turn, I told them about Sirius' endless ranting.

Now I sat in the Great Hall, listening to the opening speech Dumbledore was making. It seemed as if he was burying the lead somewhere.

"Lastly, there will be no quidditch this year." His statement was met with great disappointment and much protest from most of the students. I made no move to respond, there was a reason and I knew I wouldn't like it. "The reason for this is that we will hosting the Triwizard Tournament." And there it was; the lead. I tuned out most of the explanation, but I did catch that you needed to be 17 and that two other schools would be joining us at Hogwarts.

I looked at the Gryffindor table. First, I saw the twins, heads together, probably planning to find a way to enter regardless of being below the age of entry. Then to Harry, who seemed utterly unaffected, something was going to happen to him with this, I could guarantee that much. The I caught Hermione's eye, she seemed to share my sentiment if her worried gaze told me anything. She shrugged, and I returned the gesture. I wondered how much trouble Harry would get into this year.

The next day I walked the halls only to pass by an upset looking Hermione. She was holding a sign that said Spew on it. I looked up and down the hall and saw nobody was looking in our direction.

"Why are you holding a sign about vomit?" I asked quietly.

"It's not about vomit! It's S.P.E.W. not Spew. It stands for Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."

"Elfish welfare?" I asked with a put-upon quizzical expression.

"Yes! Did you know that house elves are used as slaves to make our food and do all the chores in this castle and in the homes of most purebloods? They are treated like the black slaves were! It's not right!" She ranted. I almost wanted to tell her about the elves in the kitchen and how happy they were to be working, but I refrained. She probably wouldn't like it. I knew that when she got an idea in her head it wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon.

"Hey, Granger, you coming or what?" Finnigan called from across the hall. I turned around to see him standing there with Harry and Ron. She looked at them too.

"Will you join? I think you would understand more than the boys and all the people who grew up in the wizarding world." I looked at Hermione. She was only doing this to be nice, but I knew the elves would hate it.

"Sorry Hermione, I can't." She only nodded.

"I figured. I suppose you need to keep your cover and this wouldn't help any." She walked away, the group heading for Herbology. I went on my way and made it to Transfiguration just in time for the bell to ring.

"Miss. Moon you were nearly late." McGonagall stated without turning around.

"Yes, but I wasn't," I responded before sitting down in my customary seat at the back of the class.

I walked out of the castle and into the center atrium just in time to see Draco tormenting Harry once more. Would those two ever grow up? It appeared not. Words were exchanged until Harry finally had the good sense to walk away with one more pointed barb. Draco removed his wand and was about to curse Harry in the back when Professor Moody showed up out of nowhere and turned him into a ferret.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I didn't trust the new defense teacher. I had a good reason, I mean look at the past ones we've had. This was different though, a feeling not dissimilar to the one I had in second year. However, seeing Draco Malfoy as a small white ferret had to be the best experience of my life. Then Moody put him down Goyle's shirt. I was in awe, until McGonagall had to come and ruin all the fun. I knew in an instant that the name Ferret would stick to Malfoy like glue.

Professor Moody had just gained a place on my list of favorites.

The first DADA lesson was interesting. Moody kept drinking out of a flask and looking far too paranoid. It was unsettling.

Then he pulled out a spider and enlarged it.

"Can anybody tell me what the Unforgivable Curses are?" Hermione raised her hand to give the general description. They were the only three spells that nobody was ever to cast lest they be sent to Azkaban for life. Just the thought of the place sent shivers down my spine. Many nights over the summer were spent sitting up with Remus and Sirius, comforting the ladder from his memories.

"Now can anybody tell me the three specific curses?" Nobody raised their hands. "You, boy." He pointed to Ron, who had timidly put his hand in the air.

"Well, my father told me about one… the imperious?"

"Yes, I suppose your father would know that one." Moody demonstrated the curse, forcing the spider all around the room. Laughter ran rampant, but I remained silent. Their laughter stopped when he forced the spider to hover over a cup of water and threatened to drown it. He set the spider down on the desk in front of Neville. He had been looking down the entire time, staring at the wood like it held the answers to the world.

"You, Longbottom, name another one."

"The cruciatus." Neville muttered. The only reason anybody heard him was because of the silence that hung in the air. I frowned, thinking of Neville's parents. It didn't seem to be common knowledge, but Sirius and Remus had told me all about the first war at my insistence.

Yet again, Moody cast the spell. The spider let out shrieks as its limbs curled in on themselves. The torture curse was not meant to be used on anything unless you were truly a horrible person. This is where Moody lost all chances at gaining any respect from me

He ended the spell when Hermione demanded it because it was bothering Neville. That was an understatement. The class remained silent as Moody stared at Neville and Neville stared at the spider, a vacant look in his eyes. I raised my hand and Moody looked at me in surprise. The other professors had probably told him of my tendency to remain silent during classes. He nodded for me to speak.

"The killing curse. The incantation is Avada Kedava. The wand motion is a zig zag and only one person has ever been said to have survived it." The class was all looking at me when the professor nodded and cast the spell, drawing everyone's attention to the spell as it hit the spider.

The class ended with a broken boy, a dead spider, an unrepentant professor, and broken silence. I held no respect for the professor that would be teaching me this year. What he'd done was cruel and unnecessary.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. This chapter is a little slow and short, it's more of an introduction to fourth year.**


	19. Year 4: Part II

The front end of the castle was overcrowded on October 30 as everyone gathered to watch the two other schools arrive. I paid them no mind as I walked into the forest to visit the centaurs. I would be back in time for their _true_ grand entrance at dinner. I diverted my course on my way to the centaurs when I ran into Luna and the thestrals. It seemed I wasn't the only one not bothered by the tournament.

That night at the feast both schools made an entrance. Beauxbatons did some kind of dance and Durmstrung marched into the hall with authority and darkness surrounding them. I took one glance before looking away.

The food appeared on the table after both schools had been seated. The Durmstrung students sat at the Slytherin table, next to me at the end unfortunately, and the Beauxbatons students sat at the Ravenclaw table. I ignored them for the most part and focused on eating my food. Daphne and Tracy were both sitting across from me and flirting with the boys from the other school. They were making fools of themselves. Malfoy sat a little farther away and began bragging about his wealth and his family's position of power in the ministry. Loudly.

The boy next to me turned to face me when nobody was paying attention.

"I am Hansel." He introduced with a thick Russian accent. He'd probably only did so because I was ignoring him, unlike the rest of the table. I looked at him. He was traditionally handsome I suppose. He cast a winning, and flirty, smile at me. I stared in silence for another few moments, letting him get uncomfortable and start to squirm.

"I'm… not interested." I stated before turning back to my food. The area around me went silent as Daphne and Tracy stared at me in shock. His friends looked at me in confusion, and he looked at me with anger.

"I was only introducing myself." He stated, miffed.

"And _I_ was only letting you know that you shouldn't waste your time introducing yourself to me. Whatever your intentions were, I'm not interested. Besides, I have friends in low places that would love a target should you annoy me. That goes for everyone at this table. I don't care about this tournament and I don't particularly want anything to do with it or its possible contenders. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think Daphne and Tracy wouldn't mind getting to know you better _despite_ their marriage contracts." I stood and strode from the Great Hall, leaving several eyes to follow me out. That was probably a touch too rude. Eh.

On Halloween, instead of going to the Great Hall to watch the champions get chosen, I went to the Samhain celebration in the forest. I brought a candle for Ronan and each of my parents. I also brought candles for the twin's uncles as per their request. They had wanted to come but they had come up with a plan to enter the tournament. They were determined to enter and win. The money was a good incentive and they still needed lots more funds for their business.

We went through the entire ritual, but I notice Firenze was missing from the group. I was going to ask Bane, but he seemed far too angry to deal with me. Instead I kept to the all female groups and chatted the night away. Lalinna and I talked about many things and when it was time for me to go back to the school Bane walked me back in silent anger. Not a word was spoke between us.

I arrived back to my common room to a great commotion. Four wizards were to compete in the Triwizard Tournament because the goblet had spit out four names. There was Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons, Viktor Krum from Durmstrung, Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff, and Harry. I sighed and went to my room. There was nothing I could do about that quite yet.

I sat down and began to pen a letter to Remus. I knew that he would probably get the information from Sirius after Harry sent a letter to him, but I thought perhaps Remus would like to get some extra information on the subject that Harry was likely to omit. I also filled him in on everything that had happened to me this year so far. I told him of the anger radiating off many of the male centaurs and Firenze's lack of attendance at the ritual. I also told him about Moody and how I was suspicious about him, and the lesson with the unforgivable curses and, of course, the Malfoy ferret incident. I figured he might get a kick out of that. I would send the letter with one of the school owls tomorrow morning before breakfast.

When I went to bed that night, I couldn't help but think that things always happened on Halloween. First a troll, then a petrification, then the first break in, and now this. Things weren't looking good for next year. At the very least I hoped that Bane and Firenze could maybe begin to see eye to eye, if only for the sake of the herd and Firenze's place in it.

The next morning I went to the kitchens for breakfast as opposed to the Great Hall. When I arrived, I was greeted with the same enthusiasm as was normal to me. This time I noticed two new elves in the kitchen. Barney took my hand and led me to them.

"Missus Moon this be Dobby and Winky. Yous two be looking after Missus Moon. She very nice to us elves." The two elves stared at me with wide eyes, I smiled at them.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Lily." They both nodded, and Barney sent them off to work again. I went and sat at the small table with a few of the young elves. Barney came over with my typical breakfast, toast with jam, before rushing back to his work. I stayed long after I ate to help the elves with their reading, skipping defense in order to do so. It wasn't as if I would be learning anything other than the phrase _constant vigilance_. Moody didn't really seem all that qualified. I wondered if that was one of Dumbledore's requirements, not being qualified for the job. Remus was, but that's beside the point.

I caught Dobby glaring at me from the other side of the kitchen. I guess the new elf isn't a fan of mine. Winky appeared to be getting drunk. She reminded me of Sirius for a moment when she began slurring and stumbling all over the place. Those two were going to cause me problems, I could tell. At least I had the rest of my legion of elves behind me.

"They both be free elves. And Dobby _likes_ it." One of the youngsters whispered to me. I looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Dobby wants to bes freed. Harry Potter helped Lord Malfoy free him. Now Dobby's being a free elf. He bes looking for work for money for a year. Then he finds Winky after World Cup and she is being freed from master too, though she not happy about it, they both come here to get job from Dumbles. They gets paid one Galleon per week."

"Well, I guess I understand Hermione's mission to free the house elves now." I muttered with another glance at Dobby.

"Yous not want tos free us, right?" The young elf asked with large tear-filled eyes.

"No, I know you don't want to be freed. Don't you worry your handsome little head about it." I ruffled the top of the small elf's head and he smiled at me.

"Missus Moon, I must insist that you go to your next class nows." Barney stated, I nodded to him and stood. I had Transfiguration next anyway. Might as well _not_ incur the wrath of Professor McGonagall.

I walked down the path to Hogsmeade on my own. The twins were in detention and I still had no friends outside of them. Remus said I should work on that, but it was difficult with my house and reputation. It didn't matter that I was alone today though, I was excited. Today was the first day that Remus would be teaching me to duel. Sirius would probably be with him in his dog form. I walked straight to the Three Broomsticks because that was where we decided to meet. I was impatient to learn, and I had the feeling I would learn more with this lesson than I had this year in defense.

When I entered, I spotted Remus almost immediately. There were a few Gryffindor students standing around him saying hi, and a few Slytherin's sitting nearby giving him disgusted looks. I rolled my eyes and moved into his line of vision before walking into the backroom that we had reserved.

"Well, I have an appointment to keep, so I'm going to have to say goodbye." I heard him say as the door swung shut behind me. He and Sirius entered the room a few moments later.

"You ready to get started?" Remus asked as Sirius curled up in front of the fireplace and situated himself to watch us.

"Depends. What exactly are we going to be doing?"

"Well, I'm going to send spells at you and you just need to stop as many as you can. I'm thinking stinging hexes of various levels of strength. You get hit by three weak ones your done, one strong one and you're dead. Got it? Next time we can reverse, and you can try to get a spell through my shield." I got my wand out and took position. I knew how to cast nonverbally for certain spells, and protegeo just so happened to be one of them.

We spent two hours doing this. I had gotten hit by several small hexes, but only one strong one had made it through my shield. That was the first one he cast, and I hadn't quite been ready for it. He had hit me in the arm a few times and the pain was starting to build, making it hard for me to keep my arm up to cast. He hit me once more with a strong hex, this one hit my stomach and I winced.

"You're dead." He stated once more. He seemed to take great pleasure in fake killing me.

"You should just pack up and go straight to hell. Now. You would make a good torturer." The dog in the corner barked and I interpreted it as a laugh from Sirius. Remus smiled slightly and came over to help me up from where I had fallen. I winced every time I moved and he looked slightly concerned.

"Just remember, next time you get to spend two hours hexing me." That made me smile. Remus seemed a little put out that it had. He healed me as a consolation for hitting me so many times.

"That sounds like fun."

"Why don't I go get us some butterbeer and then we can go onto talking about a little bit of theory. I want to teach you a few new spells."

"Oh, yay! New spells! We haven't learned anything new in DADA in _forever_!"

"Harry told Sirius you learned to cast stupify on the first of the month." I blushed, "You skipped class, didn't you?" His face of disapproval made me feel a little bad, but I had my reasons and I stood by them.

"Moody is a terrible teacher." His frown deepened, "Plus I already know how to cast that spell from helping Fred and Geroge study for their OWLs."

"You still need to go to class. I don't understand your problem with Moody. He's a great teacher, if a little excentric, once you get used to his teaching style. He taught James and Sirius when they went through the Auror Acadamy. He is a little paranoid, but other than that…"

"He cast the _unforgivables_ on the first day of class," Remus and Sirius both stood to attention, metaforically, "He used the cruciatus on an enlarged spider on Neville's desk. He flew the spider into Ron's face while demonstrating the imperious. He cast the killing curse on it while looking at Harry. Forgive me, but I don't hold the same respect for him that you do."

"Still…" Remus continued, more hesitant now that I'd told him about the curses.

"I think I would like to learn those spells now if you don't mind. I'll be learning more from you than I will in class anyway. His eye is distracting. It's always fixed on Harry or Hermione." Remus nodded and left the room to fetch the drinks. Sirius appeared to be thinking about something, which was disconcerning, especially in dog form and considering it was Sirius.

We sat and drank our butterbeers as Remus talked about the theory of the four spells he was planning to teach me. By the time I left I had four new spells nearly mastered. I could now cast a suitable levicorpus and relashio, a decent expelliarmus, and a perfect accio. Remus also made me cast a stupify just to make sure I wasn't lying before.

I walked around the hall of the castle a few days before the first task was scheduled to take place and noticed that many people seemed to be in high spirits. It was bothering me. My housemates were only in high spirits when something mean had been done.

As I entered the atrium I found out what it was. Malfoy stood in the cente, by the fountain, selling badges. He was also calling at Harry, asking if he liked them. Harry just walked out of the atrium, probably to go talk to Hermione since Ron still wasn't speaking to him. I walked over to Malfoy and picked up one of the badges he had laying next to him. _Potter Stinks_ was emblazened on them.

"What is wrong with you?" I asked with genuine curiousity. I wondered if he was ever dropped on his head as a baby. Probably.

"You're just jealous becouse your halfblood damaged magic couldn't create something like this." I looked Malfoy in the eyes with an uterly unaffected look.

"Underestimate me one more time. It'll be fun. Well, for me anyway." I told the boy with a smirk streaching my face. He glared at me and I picked up one of the badges. I pulled my wand and silently cast a spell before putting it back in the box. Malfoy picked it up and read the new inscription that I had placed on it. _Draco the Ferret_.

"My father will-"

"Hear about this. Yes, yes, we know. You've only been spouting that for the past three years. Tell me, at what point does it become you who deals with things instead of hiding behind your father? When that day comes let me know. I'll be waiting," I turned to go, but paused, "Enjoy your new badges." I said as I walked away. I heard the second everyone realized their badges had been changed to match the one I'd modified. I'd picked up the master copy that the other ones had been duplicated from.

I made my way to the forest in a fume. Malfoy really needed to be pulled down a few rungs. I entered past the tree line near Hagrid's and walked aimlessly. Nobody would dare hurt me in here unless they wanted to brave the wrath of the centaurs, elves, unicorns, hippogriffs, and thestrals.

I heard a commotion, a large roar, and some yelling somewhere to my left and decided to investigate. I'll just blame my cuiosity if Remus or the twins found out or if I got hurt.

I approached a clearing and got the sight of my life. Sitting there were four cages. Four big cages. Each one was holding a dragon. I was in awe. I wanted to approach, but judging by the number of men swarming the place and the fire coming from the creature's mouths, I figured that wouldn't be a good idea.

"Hey, Char! There's a student over there! Is it another one of your visitors?" I looked away from the beasts to see a man with dark hair yelling over his shoulder to a man with distinctive red hair. The red head came over with a frown on his face.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He asked with some distrust in his voice after seeing my tie. Gryffindor then, just like the rest of his family.

"I'm Lily, and I was going to ask you the saem question. Though I think I can guess the answer." I stated looking over his shoulder at the hungarian horntail. It was blowing fire everywhere and glaring at the men with distrust.

"Wait, I know you. You're the girl that the twins like." My eyes widened slightly, I'd forgotten that he was in the infirmary that night.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Going to see the centaurs then? Pretty sure their camps the other way." He stated with a small frown. He glanced around, as if expecting to find more Slytherins or his brothers nearby.

"Actually I was just going on a walk to clear my head. I only came over here because I heard a commotion. Isn't this area kind of close to the acromantula colony?" Charlie, if I remembered his name correctly, looked at me in disbelief.

"Let me guess. You're on good terms with them as well."

"Well, I am so long as I bring them a carcas every once in a while. Can't say the same for your youngest brother. He appears to have offended them somehow. Though seeing how he talks to _me_ I'm not all that surprised."

"I don't know what to say to that." The mans face was priceless. I wish I had a camera so I could take a photo and show it to the twins.

"Hmm, good. I like bring people to speechlessness. So those are dragons huh? Does that have anything to do with the first task or did Hagrid special order them for Care of Magical Creatures?"

"The task, though I wouldn't put that idea past Hagrid. It certainly seems like something he would do."

"I suppose Ronald knows then?" Charlie nodded, obviously wondering about my change in topic. "I also suppose he won't be saying anything to Harry since they still aren't speaking and because your brother is an idoitic dolt."

"I don't think hes-"

"I should go. Dinner will be soon and I have a session planned. Those elves won't learn to read on their own and Barney is far too busy to help them. Especially with the other two schools here." I left, not giving Charlie a chance to talk again. I thought I heard him mutter something about my sanity, but I just kept walking. I hadn't been lying, those elves needed help.

 **Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine.**


	20. Year 4: Part III

The next night I stumbled across Harry and Hermione in an empty classroom. I entered quietly, wondering what they were up to.

"No, Harry, I think it's more of a swirl for the wand movement. And you need to say accio _while_ you move the wand rather than before or after."

"You two practicing the summoning spell? Why?" Both of them jumped and turned to face me.

"The first task is tomorrow. It's dragons. Harry needs to fight a dragon." I nodded.

"Yes, I know. I saw them yesterday. They were quite magnificent." Both of them looked at me in disbelief.

"How do you seem to know about everything that's going on in this place before we do?" I shrugged. I honestly didn't know how I managed to figure things out before them, but it probably had something to do with the fact that I actually asked people questions or investigated when I needed to. Plus everybody pretended I didn't exist so there was that too.

"Don't know. Just curious I guess. Now, show me how your casting it. What are you tring to summon anyway?"

"Well…" Hermione began, trailing off. She looked to Harry for either permission or an explanation, I wasn't sure what.

"I'm going to summon my broom to fight the dragon. I can't bring anything into the ring with me so I'll need to summon it from the castle." I blinked at him once. Then again. Then one more time just to be certain I heard him right and that this wasn't a halucination.

"Move your broom to somewhere on the grounds, it'll be easier to summon it from there, less stuff between it and you. Second, your wand motion is off. It needs to be a tight arch, not a big flappy gesture with your whole arm. _Control yourself_. Your pronounciation is fine, but you need to say it as you cast for it to be the most effective. You also need to specify what you want to summon. Like so," I raised my wand and made a tight downwards arch, "Accio, Harry's broom." The broom shot into my free hand from the corner of the room. I returned it to its starting place before looking at it a moment in contemplation.

"Thanks. Say where did you learn to cast that spell?" Harry asked, beginning to practice the motion.

"Remus is teaching me to duel. I learned it last Hogsmeade trip… you know that the dragons breath _fire_ , right?"

"Yeah, that's something that I worked out for myself, thanks." He stated with an eyeroll, still focusing on his wand motion.

"And you also know that your Firebolt is made of _wood_? A rather flamable material?" Harry nodded again. I shook my head at the two Gryffindors, neither one seemed to get what I was saying. "I'm going to my common room now. I recommend you practice a few more minutes before going to bed. You'll need the energy. Those dragons are feisty ones." I left the room with a furrowed brow and no idea why I felt the need to help these idiots.

The first task was exciting and disapointing all the same. Nobody had gotten injured, so that was a plus. The twins had been taking bets and seemed to have made a fair sum of money from it. That was good as well.

Diggory had transfigured a bolder into a dog to distract the dragon, Delacour used her Veela heritage to charm her dragon into a trance, and Krum cast somekind of curse that caused it to go crazy and destroy its other eggs. I had a newfound dislike of Krum. Harry had taken my advice and managed to summon his Firebolt. Unfortunatly, he disappeared for a little while with the dragon and returned without it, which didn't bode well.

I was the first to leave the stadium and everybody else seemed to be sticking around to hear the end of task commentary from Bagman, the ring master of this disaster. Inside the medical tent I heard a shutter click and Harry and Hermione's voices. They seemed angry at someone. A simpering vaoice joined in and it started making sense. I had heard, while I was studying with Hermione in the library late one night, that some journalist was bothering Harry.

The flaps of the tent flew open and a bleach-bottle blonde woman with questionable fashion sense stumbled out. I caught a glimpse of Hermione sitting next to Harry as he got his arm looked at by a medi-witch. Apparently he hadn't escaped unharmed. It probably happened after he had run away with the dragon on his tail. I was still curious about the dragons whereabouts.

"Well, hello there deary. Care to make a comment about Harry Potter?" I looked at the woman in silence until she started shifting where she stood.

"No, and I would ask that you don't make one up for me." I stepped around the vile woman and continued to make my way towards the castle. I stopped short on the bridge. Charlie, along with some other dragon tamers, were trying to get the hungarian horntail calm and contained.

"So that's were she went." I stated, apparently just loud enough for the dragon to turn to me. The tamers looked in my direction too, alarm on their faces. I stared the dragon in the eyes. "Blast Draco Malfoy with some flame and you will be my favorite person ever." I told it as I walked forward. The dragon, nor the tamers, moved an inch as I crossed the bridge.

Everyone was watching me, but I paid no mind to them. I walked slowly, not altering my pace just because of my audience. I could feel the incredulity coming off the tamers in waves and the curiosity in the dragon's eyes matched what mine usualy looked like.

"This girl has got balls of steel." One of the tamers muttered in a romanian accent.

"Titanium actually. Do try not to hurt her, she seems rather distressed as it is, what with the whole chain on her neack and all." I called over my shoulder as I continued. The second I was out of the line of fire, litterally, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. That was probably one of the _stupidest_ things I've ever done.

The Yule Ball had been announced at the first of the month and ever since then the Durmstrung and Beauxbatons students had not stopped asking me to go with them.

I sent a letter to Remus regaling my plight. He and Sirius sent one back. It had mostly just been them laughing at me. The twins were no help either. They alternated between laughing and scowling when I told them of the less than savory ways certain people had asked me. It had gotten to the point that nearly every male student from both schools had asked me. Daphne had broken her vow of silence to ask what was wrong with me. She didn't stick around to hear my answer.

Hermione had confided in me the night before that she was going with Viktor Krum and that Ron had asked her by starting with _asking if she was a girl_. It was ridiculous. She aslo told me that both boys were scrambling at this point. I understood, we were set to leave for the holidays tomorrow.

I was going home, but coming back for the ball. I would be using the floo in Professor McGonagall's office, Remus had set it all up with her. Apparently they were good friends, which I probably should have noticed last year while he was teaching considering he had confided in her on Halloween.

I felt someone sit next to me and turned my head to see Draco, Theo, Blaise, Tracy, and Daphne sitting there. This was odd and entirely unexpected. They never sat next to me anymore. Someone came up on my other side and sat down. I turned my head again, this time I was faced by two young men from Durmstrung. The only two who hadn't asked me actually, with the exception of Krum.

"So, Mija, what do you say to comeing to the ball with one of us?" The one closer to me asked. First, the nickname, second, the fact that one was asking for both of them, and third the fact that they had asked me at all when I told the one further away that I wasn't interested on the first day were probably all factors in my next actions.

"Oh, yet another suiter for you. Are you're parents putting these people up to it?" Draco asked snidely. I will admit my reaction was a little… over the top. It wasn't even Draco's comment that set it off either, it was the had that had been placed on my leg.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore!" I screamed. Everyone in the hall turned to look at me. The teachers seemed shocked that their, normally quiet, student had exploded in the Great Hall. I feel the need to clarify that I didn't _actually_ explode, although a few dishes in the vicinity did. I stood and stormed across the hall to the Gryffindor table.

"What's she doing?" I heard Finnigan mutter. I glared at him as I passed and he cowered behind his friend.

"Potter. You don't have a date yet, right? I heard you didn't." The fire in my eyes seemed to make him either scared or uncomfortable, I couldn't tell which, what with the haze of rage.

"Umm… no?" Harry asked. He seemed unsure of telling me that fact.

"Good. You do now. You're taking me." I spun on my heel to glare at the silent room and all its inhabitants, "There! Now will everyone stop asking me to this stupid dance!" I yelled, all the exchange students looked shocked, but ultimatly amused. The rest of my house was looking at me like I betryed them. Good, that's what I was going for. "Meet me outside McGonagall's office at 7." With that I left the hall. These people sucked.

The night of the Yule Ball had finally arrived. I was home with Remus and we had spent the morning, after our Christmas festivities, practcing some more dueling. I had gotten my revenge on Remus at the beginnning of break by hitting him with as many stinging hexes as I could. I had managed to use mirrors to deflect my hexes and hit him from behind. Sirius had been howling with laughter.

We had progressed to trading hexes by this point. He admitted that I was picking up on dueling quickly. We werent doing traditional duels though, more like attack situations, seeing as that's what I was most likely to encounter in the future. I had gone up against Sirius once or twice as well. He was out of practice so it was slightly more evenly matched.

Now I sat at my vanity, after showering, to begin styling my hair. I stared into the mirror and assesed my appearance. My hair was dark brown and my eyes were a cool blue. My skin was very pale, so darker colors would be best for make-up. I looked at the palet sitting next to me. I didn't wear make-up often, but I knew how to apply it from the many parties my parents had dragged me to.

I applied brown eyeshadow, black mascara, wine red lipstick, and a light layer of pink blush. I also applied a thin layer of silver eye liner to go with my shoes. I tended to keep my make-up simplistic to avoid looking like a painting. That was one of the bigger pitfalls to being pale faced, it was very obvious when you wore make-up.

My hair was next. I curled the lower half and put it in a low ponytail. I left a portion out and made a braided hairband to wrap around my head and pinned it in place. When I was satisfied with my hair and make-up I left my room to find Remus and Sirius. They were in the sitting room and both looked up when I entered.

"Well, you look nice, though I don't think a dressing robe is quite what they had in mind when they said gown." Sirius stated when he saw me. I rolled my eyes, I was still upset that he managed to beat me this morning in our duel.

"Can you cast a sticking charm on my hair and an impervious on my make-up?" I asked Remus.

"Of course, though I agree with Sirius. I can't allow you to leave this house until you change into something a little more… formal." I rolled my eyes at them. The men in my life were all pranksters and idiots. Why did I attract these people?

As soon as he had applied the charms I turned back into the hall and wandered my way in the direction of my room. The house we were in certainly wasn't a mansion, but it wasn't small either. It had 6 bedrooms and 4 baths as well as a massive kitchen and a library. There were even about 4 sitting rooms. It was one of the nicer Black properties I was told, and I could see why. It wasn't in the best condition considering how little use it got, but it was still charming and homey inside. Plus the three of us had cleaned the house very intensly in our first weeks of living here together. I never wanted to do that again. Magically enhanced dust was a pain in the arse and so were the creature infestations.

I entered my room and went to the bag that hung on the hook in my closet. With little hesitation I unziped the bag and pulled out the beautiful gown I had bought only a few days ago. It was black at the bodice, fading into a Slytherin green the further down it got. The front only went down to mid thigh, but the back and sides were full length, creating the effects of wearing an open robe without actually doing so. The top was a triangular shape, going up to my neck and leaving my arms and shoulders bare. It also had a braided black belt around the waist that had a celtic style knot in place of a buckle. I slipped into the dress and thanked merlin that it zipped up the side. It was surprisingly comfortable, especially compared to the stiff dresses I was used to being forced into.

Once wearing the dress, I slipped on my shoes. They were silver, four inch stillettos with a ribbon that wrapped around my ankle a few times before tying in the back with a little bow; not that you would be able to see it with the length of my dress. Even with the extra height, I was loath to admit, I would still be shorter than Potter.

I was going for the whole Slytherin style. Just because I was going with a Gryffindor didn't mean I wanted to be one. That and red and gold weren't really great colors on me. Green looked much better, but blue was a close second.

I put on a silver cuff braclet and a silver choker with a snake pendant but I decided against wearing any rings. Most purebloods wore their house rings, but females typically didn't wear anything on their fingers unless they were engaged, betrothed, or in courting. With that Skeeter woman flitting around, I didn't want to give her any ideas. Potter was still an ancient wizarding house and she could use that to insinuate me as the next Potter trophy wife.

A glance in the mirror told me that I looked every inch the Slytherin Stone Queen. My dress fit perfectly, clinging and accentuating my young body in all the right places. The heels made my short stature rise to a soild 5'7" and made my exposed legs look great. The make-up highlighted my features, but wasn't super obvious and the jewelry flattered and accompanied the dress without taking the focus. It was perfect.

A glance at the clock in the reflection showed that I only had about ten minutes before I needed to meet Harry. I looked at myself one last time to check that I looked perfect before I left my room and headed to the sitting room with the floo. Before I entered the sitting room I reached into the concealed pocket to ensure I had my wand. Remus would not be approving if he found out that I'd left it behind.

I stepped in and received a dropped jaw from Remus and a low whistle from Sirius. I rolled my eyes at both of them. Remus pulled a camera out of nowhere and held it up. He hit the button just as I was smiling and placeing my hand on my hip for a proper photo. Sirius muttered about me being sassy and I laughed. Remus lowered the camera and I knew it had caught my side of the entire exchange.

"I should go. Don't want to keep your godson waiting, right Black?" Remus looked me in the eyes for a moment, just remembering exactly who was escorting me. He may have only just adopted me, but he had the protective father act down to a tee.

"I don't think he'll mind too much. You look stunning darling." Sirius responded with a smile. He had risen when I entered the room and now strode over to me. He delivered a kiss to my knuckles before heading for the side cabinet. Remus was muttering to himself, but cleared his throat when I could no longer contain the grin that wanted to surface.

"Yeah, you really know how to make a man feel their age, huh Padfoot?" Sirius grunted in agreement. Remus helped me into the fireplace and called out my destination for me. I went spinning through the system until I finally landed in McGonagall's fireplace. She was still there, probably waiting for me, and dressed in her finery. She helped me remove myself from the small area and flicked her wand to clear the soot from my outfit. She grinned when she saw the whole picture.

"Making a statement tonight?" She asked. She was one of the few that knew I was adopted by Remus and, non-officially, Sirius. Dumbledore probably knew, but didn't seem to care.

"Just showing pride for my house." I corrected as we walked to the office door just as a knock sounded. I opened it and saw a very awkward looking Harry on the other side. He had a similar reaction to Remus and Sirius. His jaw had dropped and he seemed frozen in place. Though that didn't stop him from palying with his cuffs and collar. He didn't seem like the type to wear formal robes, let alone enjoy them.

"Well, Mr. Potter, are you going to greet your date or stand there all night?" McGonagall asked, much to my own amusement. Harry snapped out of his trance as the professor passed him on her way to the Great Hall herself to take care of any last minute issues.

"Sorry. You umm… you look great." He stumbled, I looked at him with an amused smile. I was used to getting compliment on my looks after years of high society parties. You developed an imunity to them at a certain point.

"Thanks, you look rather awkward yourself." He smiled in a self depricating manner before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm not really the type to go to dances and such."

"If it makes you feel any better, I hate them. I used to go with my family all the time, as you may be aware. Sure it's fun to dress up and look pretty for a night, but the dancing and mingleing part is terrible unless you're trying to get something from someone. Well, that and the dresses are usually quite uncomfortable."

"Spoken like a true Slytherin." He joked. I laughed for the first time in his presence. He seemed rather shocked by it.

"No, spoken like a billionaire's heiress. Seriously, you should've seen some of the things they forced me to wear. At least I got to choose this dress. And we Slytherin's do have emotions Potter, don't be so shocked to hear me laugh."

"Well, you look wonderful."

"Thank you, Harry." We walked in silence for the rest of the walk to the entrance hall.

"You know we need to begin the ball by dancing together in front of everyone, right?" I stopped dead in my tracks. That was not something that I had been made aware of.

"No…"

"Yeah, the champions need to open the dance by performing a traditional waltz. Tradition is important and must not be ignored, even if I am the extra competetor." He muttered bitterly. I got the feeling he had be told that exact thing from someone, probably McGonagall.

"Do you even know _how_ to waltz?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"A little… okay, no not really. Thought I would apologize before hand about my stepping on your toes." He shrugged with an apologetic grimace.

"Well, we're both a little out of our depth. I can't waltz either. I may be coordinated but I have _never_ been a dancer. Whenever I try I tend to bungle up the steps and ruin everything about halfway through."

"Well, I will ruin from the beginning so nobody needs to know." I laughed again and we resumed our walk. I was starting to look forward to spending the night with Harry. Nobody would even be able to fault me for it since they had chalked me asking him up to a mental break. It would be interesting to learn more about the Golden Boy of the wizarding world.

"Sorry for the way I asked you by the way. I know you probably had someone else in mind to come with." He looked at me in shock, but with a touch of embarassment.

"Nah. I mean I wanted to go with Cho, but she was already going with Cedric when I asked. I don't know who I would've went with if not for you. Say, you and Hermione talk, do you know who she's coming with?" He asked, his eyes narrowed on my.

"I do, and you will just have to wait and see when we get there." We arrived only moments later to see the room devoid of any people aside from the champions. Hermione was at the top of the staircase and began to decend. I saw Harry's eyes widen when she greeted Krum.

"Krum asked her?" He whispered. I was actaully a little nervous he was going to faint because of the look on his face.

"Hey, don't be rude. He's actually the only foreign student who _didn't_ ask me. I'm just glad she said yes, otherwise I would've had to endure him asking _me_." Harry rolled his eyes, he didn't seem all that put out at Hermione's date, but that said nothing about how a certain red head he was friends with would react. We walked down the stairs arm in arm just as McGonagall exited the Great Hall again. We were apparently just on time.

"Okay. Everyone is ready and waiting and the band is set to play. Are you all ready?" A chorus of unenthusiastic agreement answered her. "Okay, we'll go Miss. Delacour in front, then Mr. Krum, Mr. Diggory, and finally Mr. Potter." She stood behind us and opened the doors with a flourish of her wand. The massive doors flew open and allowed the barrage of sound to hit us. Applause and trumpets followed us as we walked the thin aisle lined by students towards the dance floor. There were many whispers about Hermione and then about me as we passed. There were also a few sneers sent in my direction because of my house and the fact that I was escorted by a Gryffindor.

Silence filled the hall as all four couples stood in formation on the dance floor. I stood in front of Harry, on the inside, while stood with his back to the crowd. He looked awkward and overwhelmed by all the attention on him. I would've felt similarly if I hadn't been bred for these situations.

"Harry, put your hands on my waist." I whispered, he complyed immediately and I helped him into proper form for the traditional waltz. The two of us bungled up the waltz from the beginning, trying to copy the movements of the other three couples. We were both smiling at each other and trying to hold in laughter as we went.

Eventually, after a few minutes of _horrible_ dancing, Dumbledore led McGonagall onto the floor for a dance and Neville Longbottom led Ginny Weasley. When more couples entered the floor, making it quite crowded, the two of us knew it was safe to run. We both made our way away from the floor as quickly as possible and collapsed into seats on the edge of the room, giving in and devolving into laughter where nobody could hear us.

"That was horrible." Harry muttered into his hands.

"No kidding." I chuckled, folding my hands in my lap and crossing my ankles to look the perfect aristocrat as my laughter faded out.

"So, you're not mad?" He asked with a glance in my direction as he watched his friends and housemates dancing with their dates. I let my eyes move to the floor to inspect the new couples that would likely be ended by the new year.

"What would I have to be mad at? You didn't cop a feel like Fleur's date, you didn't step on my feet, and that was the most fun I've ever had while dancing." Harry smiled for a moment before Ronald finally reached us, his date, one of the Patils, in tow. Neither looked very happy, but probably for different reasons.

"Do you see Hermione? How could she come with _him_ , of all people?" I glared at the red head, his date did as well before sitting next to me. Boys just didn't understand.

"I like your dress." She smiled at me.

"Yours too. It looks beautiful." I returned, just as I was raised to do. Even if you couldn't return the _same_ compliment, you find something nice to say.

"Thank you, do you think they'll ask us to dance at some point?" She whispered, looking longingly at the dance floor. I looked at Ronald, who appeared to be settleing in for the night.

"I doubt it…" Two sets of hands appeared in our line of vision. Both of us looked up to see the twins grinning down at us.

"We heard you wanted a dance Parvati."Ah, so it _was_ the Gryffindor half of the twins.

"Oh yes, and we couldn't let the belle of the ball sit all night either." I rolled my eyes at their theatrics. Parvati readily took Fred's hand and he pulled her onto the floor. I looked at George with a raised brow.

"So, no dance?" George asked with a soft smile.

"No dance." I confirmed. He shrugged and sat in Parvati's vacated seat. Harry looked over to me with a desperate look in his eyes. "I think Harry could use an out though." I whispered to our new table-mate.

"Hey, Harry, the least you could do for the poor fool who asked you to accompany you is talk to her. And Ron, shouldn't you be dancing with your date, not having Fred do it?" Ronald looked over and glared at his brother as Harry turned to engage me in conversation.

The two of us sat together and talked about many things, but mostly Sirius, until the end of the ball at midnight. Ronald chased Hermione off with some idiotic comments about _frateranizing with the enemy_ and I knew that that would be on the books to talk about after break was over. I didn't understand how Hermione, or Harry to a lesser extent, put up with the idiot. At least the twins and I shared the sentiment that he was better in small doses and when he is silent.

"We should probably get going. Wouldn't want Remus to get mad at me for keeping his _daughter_ out too late." Harry muttered as he held out a hand to help me stand. I laughed, we had begun calling Remus my 'Adopt-a-Dad' at some point and Sirius my Adopt-a-Dog.

"Very true. He has those paternal instincts down already." I told him as we began our trek to Gryffindor tower where McGonagall's office resided. We passed by Daphne as we went. She looked like she wanted to say something, but resisted at the last second. I assumed because it wasn't a cutting comment, which was all she offered me these days.

"So…" Harry began, "Why did you ask me, or rather tell me, to take you to the ball?"

"I don't know. I knew you didn't have a date and people wouldn't _stop asking_ me."

"Ron didn't have a date either." I turned my head to look at Harry with the most disbelieving expression that I could muster. It was late, so it probably wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.

"Ronlad's an idiot and if I had to spend the night with him I would've killed myself. Anything more than an hour really." Harry laughed slightly before dragging me through a secret passage.

"So, does this mean that we're friends now?" He asked.

"I was under the impression we were already." Harry blushed, but said nothing. I knew he didn't consider me a friend, it was painfully obvious in how cautious he was around me, but I couldn't resist the urge to make him uncomfortable.

"Sorry, I don't really make friends easily." I nodded at that, at least I could understand that sentiment.

"Me neither." We arrived at the office door and both of us stood still, my hand still encased in his from when he's grabbed it to pull me through the passage.

"Here you are." I muttered, quite uselessly seeing as how I had eyes.

"Please be careful in the next few tasks. And ask for help if you need it. You're my friend now and that means I will feel personally responsible should you get hurt. Slytherin loyalty and all that." He looked sceptical at that but gave a short nod.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best." He stated, "I best get back to the common room. Ron's probably waiting for me." I nodded. Harry leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before turning and leaveing, a blush that matched mine coloring his face. I floo-ed home, the blush still flaming my cheeks, and was met by two amused faces waiting up for me.

"Did Harry put the moves on you or something? Sheesh, nice blush." Sirius laughed, Remus narrowed his eyes at that comment, but I could see his amusement as well.

"You… are an idiot. I'm going to bed. You can ask me about my time tomorrow morning, goodnight." I practically ran from the room, with no shame, I wasn't a Gryffindor.

They did ask me about my night the next morning. They then spent the rest of the break teasing me, saying I had a crush on Harry. I glared every time, but it seems they were no longer affected by my 'ice stare' as Sirius had called it. Shame.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Hope you like the first task.**


	21. Year 4: Part IV

I stared out at the lake in boredom. These people obviously didn't think this task through. I mean, it was good in theory, but staring at a lake for and hour was kind of boring, especially after dragons. Plus, there was the whole winter thing that made the area rather chilly. I felt bad for Delacour, the part veela. The cold and her probably did not agree.

As the task had been explained to everyone, the champions needed to retrieve people from the bottom of the lake and would have an hour to do so. Harry had figured his clue out eventually, probably with a little outside help. He was using gillyweed to breath underwater for an hour, curtesy of Longbottom if the exchange I saw earlier was related to the task and not a drug deal.

This task, on top of being boring for the spectators, seemed extremely dangerous and stupid. Not only for the competitors, but for the people at the bottom of the lake as well. What if they didn't get them out in time? They hadn't signed up for the competition, and none of them were of age either. I even doubted any of them would have consented to going into the lake… with the exception of Ronald I suppose, he always wanted to be the center of attention.

I was worried about Harry though. He had had a rather… bad start. Not to mention that he had only figured the clue out recently and had to scramble to prepare. I seriously wondered how that boy made it through the first 13 years of his life without dying. He's been in mortal peril since birth. Maybe he had luck potion running through his veins.

Remus and Sirius' words entered my brain again. I refused to admit that I had a crush on Potter. I mean, chances were he wouldn't live long enough for a serious relationship. He was a danger magnet. I didn't need that kind of energy in my life.

Harry and I had spent some more time together since the Yule Ball. He had come with me on a few of my walks in the forest. Never to see the centaurs or thestrals or spiders, but just when I needed to clear my head and he happened to see me on the map. When he joined me, I tended to stay on the forest's edge.

The twins and I pulled a prank not too long ago. This one had been a long time coming too. We hadn't pulled anything big all year, but one morning everyone in the castle woke up with words written on their heads. They weren't derogatory or anything, just random words. Mine had been Mistress. Theirs had said Master and Mister. Odd choices but I went with them. Dumbledore's had said Flippernugget.

I was glad I wasn't Harry though. His head had said Lightning Queen all day. I had laughed when the twins mentioned it and that had been where the prank had started. When I saw Harry that day he had a put out look on his face and a glare for anyone who dared laugh. That included me.

A person breached the surface of the lake, knocking me out of my thoughts. It was too early, there was no way someone had completed the task after only 20 minutes, especially considering the guardians that lived in Black Lake. Fleur swam to shore, shivering and unable to continue, just like I had assumed, she didn't do well with the cold. She burst into tears only moments after getting on the dock, her baby sister was under the lake.

I knew immediately that Harry was going to save her. Him and his stupid saving people thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to save everyone down there.

When Cedric broke the surface with Cho Chang near the end of the hour, I was hopeful. When Krum arrived with Hermione only minutes later, that hope sank to the bottom of the lake. Neither of them had the girl. Harry would be getting hurt it seemed. Hopefully he didn't drown first, I thought as I glanced at the countdown that was rapidly approaching zero.

Two figures broke the surface and I leaned forward slightly, trying to see who they were, maybe he hadn't saved her after all.

When I saw a head of red hair and one of blonde hair I started to get scared. The hour had run out and Harry was still under the water. Only minutes later Harry flopped onto the dock like a fish, obviously trying to expel the water from his lungs. I wanted to run down and see him, talk to him, probably berate him, but my house and my false pretenses stopped me. This was one of the few times that I wished my circumstances were different. Harry was hugged and kissed on each cheek by Fleur for rescuing her sister before being carted back towards the castle.

This time I was the second to last to leave the area, still staring at the lake where Harry had just almost died for the umpteenth time. Blaise Zabini approached me and sat next to where I had sat after the competition had been explained. He looked at me with clouded eyes and an odd look on his face.

"You seem awfully concerned about Potter."

"You seem awfully concerned about me." I replyed, he looked at me for a few moments.

"Secrets only stay a secret for so long, Moon. I hope you're ready when the fallout occurs." He stood to leave, and I watched him go. This was the problem with Slytherins. They say things like they're threats, but they don't mean them as such. I was wondering if this was meant to be a threat or not. I was also left to wonder what he thought my secret was.

I stayed where I sat until Zabini was long gone. A dog approached me and nuzzled my cheek. I looked over to see Sirius, in dog form, and latched onto him, holding his fur for dear life.

"I may have a small crush on him…" I whispered, the dog gave a rumble of agreement in return. "He needs to stop almost dying." The dog barked this time. "I might be in trouble…" The dog stayed silent, watching me with those overly intelligent eyes.

I avoided Harry for most of the lead up to the final task. It was only when he and Hermione approached me in the library one night about a week before it was set to take place that I spoke to him again. They asked for my help training Harry in some extra defense. The final task was a maze that held dark creatures. I agreed if only to keep Harry from dying. He was an okay student at least, though I mostly showed him offensive spells since that's what he seemed to favor. He would need to learn defensive spells at some point.

Sitting in the stands staring at the maze that was the final task, I realized they hadn't thought this task through either. The audience couldn't see anything inside the maze, it being to high and too thick to get a clear look inside. Harry, tied for first with Cedric, entered the maze first, soon followed by Krum, and then Fleur.

It was a long time before sparks flew into the air, signalling someone drawing out of the competition. Another jet soon followed. Only Harry and Cedric remained.

The stands were silent as everyone waited for someone to appear with the cup. I heard an odd sound come from the maze. Well, odder than all the other sounds that were coming from it. It sounded almost like a portkey (Sirius had made me well versed in magical travel over the summer to help me blend in). That would make sense, except nobody showed up in the starting area with the cup. I had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.

I stood to leave and was almost to the exit of the stadium when Harry reappeared. Cheering started, but my breath caught in my throat. There was a body in Harry's arms. I could tell the second everyone noticed because Mr. Diggory started screaming and he rushed forwards, only to be held back by other adults. He broke their hold and raced to his son's body.

Harry was whisked away by Moody. I still had a bad feeling in my gut. It may have been guilt for thanking all the gods that it wasn't Harry's body that had appeared, but Cedric's, but it could also be because I didn't trust Moody even slightly. I began to walk towards the castle, only to be passed by Snape, Dumbledore, and McGonagall racing past me to get there first. Something was wrong. The professors never ran when everything was going well.

I followed at a distance and watched everything that happened in the defense office from just outside under a disillusion charm. Moody was an escaped death eater, Barty Crouch Jr. That was a twist I wasn't expecting. The real Moody was in a chest in the office. That was a little unsettling. Voldemort had returned to his full glory. That was very, very bad. He was after Harry. That was terrifying.

We sat in silence for most of the train ride home. Harry had seen Cedric die, it tended to put a damper on the mood.

I sat between Harry and the window. Hermione sat on his other side. Ronald sat on the floor in front of him and the twins on the bench across from us.

"I still can't believe it." Ronald said for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, we heard you the first several times Ron. Now shut up." Fred stated with an eye roll and a glare.

"Sorry. It's just… so surreal. He was always so happy and, and Hufflepuff-y." It was my turn to glare at the menace.

"What does that even mean?" Hermione muttered.

"And now he will forever be remembered as the guy who _He_ killed when he returned to power. Makes you wonder what you'll be remembered for, doesn't it?" Ronald asked. For once a semi-intelligent question.

"What kind of person you are is what you're remembered for, not your house at school. He'll be remembered as happy, loyal, and brave." Hermione stated.

"What kind of person do you all think people will remember you as?" Harry asked, it was the first he'd spoken the whole journey.

"Jokesters?" Fred asked looking to his twin.

"Pranksters," George answered.

"Smart, know-it-all." Hermione stated.

"The youngest boy of the Weasley clan," Ron said with distaste.

"The boy who lived." Harry said with despair. Everyone looked at me, I looked at them in turn.

"The girl nobody would go looking for," I stated, turning to look out the window again. This was going to make Remus and Sirius unbearable. It would also mean moving into a house that was much better protected than where we currently were. Probably the one under the Fidelus Charm that they had mentioned in one letter. Sirius' childhood home, he hated it. This would not be good for his recovery after Azkaban. It also probably meant more cleaning.

"That's not true. We'd go looking for you." Harry said, gesturing to the rest of the compartment.

"Speak for yourself." Ron muttered, earning him a kick from the four others. He grunted, I wasn't bothered. It was no secret there was no love lost between the two of us. I wouldn't go looking for him either. He also still thought I was a stuck-up, pureblood, evil Slytherin.

Remus and our 'dog' were waiting for me on the muggle side of Kings Cross when we arrived. Remus placed an arm over my shoulder and led us to an alleyway not far away in order to apparate us. We appeared in a park I'd never seen before.

Remus passed me a slip of parchment with an address on it as we exited the park onto the street. When I looked up after reading it I saw a building being revealed in between number 11 and number 13 Grimmauld Place.

"We moved your stuff in already. The three of us have bedrooms on the top floor. The Weasley's will be joining us soon enough, and Hermione soon after. Harry will be coming at the end of summer. Dumbledore wouldn't let him come any sooner." Remus explained as we walked up the path to enter the house. It was dark and dreary inside and when Sirius became human he grimaced at the place. A sudden screeching brought my attention to a portrait of a mulish looking woman on the wall near the entryway. Both men leapt to action and pulled the drapes on her portrait after silencing her once more.

"My mother. Try to be quiet and not wake her. Don't be surprised if she calls me a blood traitor, Remus a half breed, and you a mudblood. _She always knows_."

This summer would _not_ be fun.

 **Disclaimer: The end of fourth year. Next up, the pepto bismol toad's reign of terror.**


	22. Year 5: Part I

This place was awful.

Even if the darkness, discriminatory portraits, and doxys were all to go away, the Weasley family _moving in_ certainly didn't help. It was overcrowded, and Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to like me very much, which was curious seeing as we've only met once. I assumed it was Ronald's fault.

Luckily, Hermione arrived the same day the Weasley's had, so they still had no clue about my real blood status. I knew they couldn't be prejudiced towards purebloods, seeing as they _were_ purebloods, but they were certainly not fans of my house. There was no more guessing about who cultivated Ronald and Ginny's hatred of Slytherin.

Mr. Weasley seemed nice enough, and the twins were always on my side, so that helped a little. Sirius was trying to foster a relationship with Harry, which I understood and encouraged, and Remus was staying away from everyone for the most part. The loud noises and waking of Mrs. Black's portrait were hard on his senses. I wished I had that good of an excuse. I could never make that comment near Remus though, he would blow a gasket.

I sat in the kitchen, watching Mrs. Weasley dole out tasks for the day. She seemed to think she ran the house ever since she entered it and noticed the disarray it was in. It annoyed me on principal since she was not the owner, nor was she invited to take the role of hostess. If anybody did it was Kreature, Sirius, and Remus. They had spent _some_ time cleaning up the house before I had arrived, and I joined them in their efforts after I arrived, but there was still a lot to do.

None of us really cared about the dust and the windows though, and not much work got done because we all got distracted by things we happened to come across. While Kreature had despised me at first, he had warmed to me once we came to an agreement. He treated me kindly or I would stop giving him anything to do and do everything myself.

He was old and set in his ways, he had also spent so long living in the house alone he was mostly insane, so his attitude was understandable. He had even warmed to Sirius once I'd forced Sirius to stop hitting him so often and give him work to do. The elf still glared at Remus quite often, but that might just be because he could sense the more powerful magical creature in him.

"Okay, Fred and Ron, you two are in the Library. George and Ginny, you two take the sitting room. Lily, you can-"

"Nope." The woman's face became flushed with anger.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm busy today." Her hands went to her hips and her lips were set in a straight line as she glared at me.

"Doing what? Just because you don't want to help, doesn't mean you don't have to." She whispered something that I didn't catch, but I assumed it was something derogatory about my house or supposed pureblood upbringing.

"I don't have a problem with helping, but today I am busy. Also, I did my share of the cleaning before any of you arrived here. Even if I wasn't busy, I am not your child and thus do not need to follow your orders. I follow Remus' and sometimes Sirius' when he's not drunk or stupid." I stated with a raised brow being the only indication that I was upset at her treatment of me.

"Cheers." Sirius stated, raising his glass and not looking up from the daily prophet in front of him. He was doing the crossword.

"No offence Sirius." I stated with a small smile at him, I knew he was still watching the proceedings even if he looked focused on his paper.

"What else could you possibly have to do? Also, if you don't help your leaving Hermione without a partner." I looked at her in bewilderment. It was none of her business what I was going to do, and not everybody needed a partner depending on where they are working. All she had to do was tell Hermione to clean out the spare drawing room, it was already doxy and curse free.

"Sirius can be her partner. I'm busy." I decided to say instead of telling he my real thoughts.

"Stop volunteering me to do things I don't want to do." Sirius stated, flicking his eyes to me, displeasure clear.

"I'm calling my 'you're and idiot' card." I glared at him, he sighed and turned to face Hermione.

"So where are we cleaning today Hermione?" He asked with a pout. Sirius hated cleaning with a passion, especially when he had to face the dark cursed objects that his family had cultivated. He hated seeing what kind of people he was related to.

"You still haven't told me what you deem more important." Molly stated, she was red faced and annoyed now. Even though I'd offered a perfectly reasonable solution to the problem, she didn't want to accept that I wouldn't be helping.

"Lily are you ready?" Remus asked, entering the negatively charged room. "Also, Sirius, we will need you today as well." Molly turned to him and Sirius absolutely lit up at the prospect of getting out of cleaning.

"What would we need Sirius for today? I just pulled the idiot card."

"Oh… well I suppose we can put that lesson off for now. I was going to help you with two on one dueling but if he's going to be busy, we can work on disabling your opponent and breaking a shield charm." Remus stated with a small, almost unnoticeable, smirk on his face. The disappointment washed over Sirius' face once more.

"Okay, let's do that. We can do the two on one dueling tomorrow or the next day. Definitely before I leave for school though." Remus nodded and gestured to the door.

"What is all this? You're teaching her to _duel_? Why on earth would you _do that_? It's dangerous and quite irresponsible on your part." Molly stated. I suspected that the only reason she wasn't yelling was because of Mrs. Black's portrait. I could tell she wanted to.

"How is knowing how to protect oneself _dangerous_? The only way it would be dangerous is if he were challenging me beyond my skill level or casting spells that might cause damage. Also, considering he's my legal guardian, not you, I don't think you really have a leg to stand on here." I stood and flounced from the room. Remus followed close behind. He didn't seem all that happy with Molly being here either. She was rather smothering. The full moon approaching didn't help either when she challenged his authority.

We were doing what Remus had planned for about an hour before we changed tracks. A loud commotion coming from the front hall, what sounded like yelling, doors slamming, and Harry, made us decide to take a quick break. We heard every word come up from the floor below us. Harry sounded _very_ angry that nobody had contacted him.

"I think," I stated, still listening to the yelling match, "That I would like to try a duel against you." Remus looked intrigued at the possibility. He told that he liked dueling against me because I had the habit of using my surroundings more than I relied on my magic, which made me an interesting opponent. Right now was the best time of the month for us to have a more equal duel because of his upcoming transformation.

"You don't want to go see Harry? He seems like he's in a great mood at the moment." He teased as he stood from his chair. I watched him for any signs of fatigue or pain. There was no more than usual, so I figured we'd be good to go.

"No, I want to duel you and avoid Harry at all costs. Maybe if he stumbled upon us dueling he'd think twice before yelling at me." Remus nodded towards the center of the room, a sure sign that the duel would take place.

"Let's duel then. Traditional or attack?" He offered the traditional style even though he knew I wouldn't pick it. He decided to do one lesson on traditional dueling a month just in case I did end up being formally challenged to duel. Even so, our focus was still attack dueling, so that's what I would pick.

"Attack, but nothing lasting, harmful, or without a counter. Stunning equals death." Remus nodded and stood across from me. These were our typical rules. "Any other rules you'd like to implement?" He shook his head in the negative and assumed position. I did the same and we were off to the races.

The dueling only got more intense as it progressed and the sound of the floo and front door went unnoticed. Remus shot the first stunner, but I rolled out of the way and returned a levicorpus that he deflected. I was next to the door after my dodge roll and a plan entered my mind.

"Bombarda!" I shouted, destroying the chair that he had backed up to stand next to. It was likely an attempt to be proactive against my use of our environment. It didn't work. He cast a spell to avoid injury and I pulled the door open and placed it between us.

"Reducto!" The door I was hiding behind turned to ash, but I didn't give it a second glance. I had already turned and ran down the stairs. Now that he was chasing after me, I started casting behind me as I went.

I sent a jelly-legs that he dodged, but the stinging hex hit him in the leg, causing him to stumble. I used the opportunity to race down the first set of stairs and back into the landing's hallway. He followed me down, still casting in a rapid series, hoping at least one would land. There were some stunners mixed in and I made those my first priority.

He paused for a moment after he reached the landing and I used the opportunity to cast in rapid fire back at him. It forced him to step back and begin to descend the stairs as I advanced. I now had the upper ground and he was far to occupied with protecting himself to send any spells of substance in my direction. When he reached the front entry way and woke up the portrait of Mrs. Black, we both cast a silencing charm at her in unison before getting back to our duel like nothing had happened.

We stood at a stand still moments later. Neither of us wanted to cast, but neither of us wanted to cede the duel. We'd both went onto the defensive at the same time after our mutual sunners had clashed.

"Expelliarmus!" We both shouted at once. His spell came a second sooner than mine had due to my relatively newness to the spell. Still, both of our wands went flying and he ended up with mine in his hand and his wand rolled under a chair in the sitting room we had ventured into.

I took his momentary break for thought to my advantage and jumped at him. He moved quickly with a shocked face. I swung low to avoid a wandless hex and swung my leg out to catch his out from under him. He fell to the floor with a thump and a groan, my wand rolling away from him. I wandlessly accio-ed it to my hand just as he did for his own wand.

My next stunner went flying, but he rolled out of range after sending his own. His missed and hit the mantle behind me as mine hit the floor. My next spell was a confundous that hit him in the face, but his langlok hit me as well. He sent a stunner while I was trying to undo the spell's effects. It hit me in the chest and I went down.

"I remain the raining champion!" Remus crowed as he set me free. I stood stiffly and accepted my wand from him. We shook hands, and I could tell he was looking me over for injuries. "Let's go sit and get you healed while we talk. Your methods are smart, but your form is a little off." I nodded, and we turned to see the entirety of the Order and the house's occupants staring at us. The twins were grinning, and Sirius looked a little disappointed that Remus had won.

"What the bloody hell…" Ronald started, staring at me in horror and awe. Harry was looking at the two of us in surprise, but the anger was still visible underneath the surface. Mrs. Weasley was looking on in disapproval, and Dumbledore was curious. Snape was expressionless.

"Language Ronald. I'm sure you have trouble remembering it sometimes, but you do need to act like a human in order to be in civilized company." He turned red in anger and looked like he was about to lunge.

"You're a slimy Slytherin and a pureblood supremacist! What do you know about being civilized?" The twins and Hermione glared at him and both Remus and Sirius let out growls at his accusation. Remus' was louder and more threatening.

"A lot more than you. It also goes to show what you know, considering that if I was a supremacist I would never have asked for Remus to be my guardian, or want to spend any time with Sirius for that matter. A 'half-breed' and a 'blood-traitor' don't exactly make for supremacy." I turned and left the room, the approving glance from the real Moody and Tonks following me. It was Dumbledore's contemplative look that worried me. I glared at him for good measure, causing surprise to flit across his face. I think it got my point across quite well; I wasn't one of his pawns to play with.

The Order meeting started soon after. All the other underage residents were trying to listen in and find out what was going on. I sat back and let them. Remus had been keeping me apprised of everything that was happening in those meeting ever since they had started up again.

I did try to tell them that shouldn't be listening in on the conversations, but none of them listened. Well, the twins had a good reason to listen in at least. They should've already been in the group, but Molly pitched a fit when they mentioned it. This was also one of the best chances they had to test out the extendable ears.

Harry glared at me and moved closer to the twins, his motives were not as understandable. The Order meetings typically just talked about guard rotations and developments on the whereabouts of Voldemort and his supporters. None of which Harry would be able to contribute to, nor have any reason to know. He was more likely to give the information away than keep it. Also, what was he going to be able to do from Hogwarts? Sure there was the recruitment network, but he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on it from Gryffindor.

After our dueling spectacle Harry glared at me almost non-stop. It was confusing but understanding. He wanted to be the one that was housed by Sirius and spend all his time with him instead of his abusive relatives. He wanted to be the one who was being trained to duel, but I don't think he cared who taught him. However, he was also mad at _me_ for not sending him information. I didn't bother trying to tell him that I never had before and thus had no reason to do so now. That would just end in _more_ yelling.

Sirius came out after about ten minutes and told everyone to disperse. The first ten minutes of the meeting never had much to do with the top-secret things, it was more just a recount of tasks that they did without details on how it went. I suspected that they knew we were listening but let us until the actual meeting began.

I went upstairs to the library and the others reluctantly joined me. Fred and George sat on either side of me and everyone else sat across from me. Somehow, we ended up discussing what you needed to do or be in order to get into Gryffindor. This led to many comments from Ronald about how they were superior. The obvious 'you're not one of us' hung in the air after every comment. Like a decent Slytherin, I ignored the ginger menace.

"Yes, well, being brave and chivalrous is good and all but Slytherin is still better. Despite its bad name, it is still one of the more influential of houses. To be in Slytherin you must-"

"Hate and discriminate against anyone who isn't pureblood?" Ronald inturupted, making me glare at him. I hated this red headed twerp.

"Be evil and bent on world domination." Ginny corrected, my eyes flitted to her. She looked, dare I say, jealous. I wondered why she would be jealous of me before I saw her looking between Harry and I. Harry had been staring at me near non-stop since he had first seen me.

"Bully everyone you see because they are worthless peasents compared to you." Harry spat. My eyes widened. I had expected this from Ronald, and even Ginny considering how she'd been acting since she arrived, but not Harry. He'd never had a problem with my house before, at least that I'd heard of. I heard doors opening and closing downstairs, followed by footsteps coming closer.

"I was just going to say 'know what you want and fight for it'. And you people say I'm harsh. What do your statements say about you?" I whispered the first part, and sent the last part at them like a cannonball wrapped in barbed wire.

The door to the library opened and Sirius stood there. He looked at me in concern before glancing at everyone else. The twins and Hermione all had glares for the younger siblings and Harry, and they had glares for me. I was just looking at the ground. I doubted Sirius hadn't heard. Him and his stupid enhanced hearing. If he knew, then Remus definetly knew.

Goody, now I've got to stop a murder.

"Remus wanted to talk to you Lils." Sirius didn't dare step in the room, for fear of the charged atmosphere changing to him. I stood and left them without a word. I did give Sirius a glance, one that told him not to be stupid.

"Was that really necessary?" I heard Sirius ask before I decended the staircase and headed for the kitchen. Remus always stayed to talk to any straglers after the meetings.

"You wished to see me, oh father dearest." I asked in a syrupy sweet voice, noticing he was speaking with Tonks. He wasn't the only one who could tell when someone had a crush. Though I very much doubted he would act on it without some blunt shoves in the right direction.

"What have I told you about calling me that?" He asked with a glare in my direction as Tonks tried to hide her laughter.

"That it makes you feel old?" I asked, my sweet voice not leaving me.

"And?" He growled lightly. Simply a warning, I knew what his truly angered growl sounded like and it wasn't that.

"That I should call you _only_ that," He glared, "Or was that Sirius?" I asked, putting an overly fake complexed look on my face.

"Sit." He commanded, waving a hand at the seat next to him so we could talk quietly enough that the others wouldn't hear.

"Hey, _you're_ the puppy, not me. I don't take commands. Maybe I want to stand." I responded, trying to be difficult. Molly turned to face me with disapproval, but Remus looked amused.

"Don't talk to people like that young lady." Molly ordered. I glanced at her with well hidden disdain at monkier.

"Don't call me _young lady_ , Mrs. Weasley. I am neither your child nor yours to order around. I am not your guest here, if anything you are my guest. It's _simple etiquitte_. Now, I'm going to sit, but don't think it's because you _told me to_. It's just because Remus hit me with one too many stinging hexes to the leg earlier." Molly continued to stare at me. Sirius and I tended to get on her nerves quite often. It was actually a game we played, who can make Molly explode first. It was all in the timeing.

"Okay, let's talk about the meeting. You already know about the-"

"What?! Remus Lupin! You'd better not be telling that girl about what is spoken of in Order meetings! She is much too young!" Molly shrieked, Sirius, as well as most of the other people in the house, appeared at the door, as if summoned by the drama. Molly continued to yell, not letting Remus get another word in edgewise. He looked both annoyed and worried for his eardrums.

"Damn, I really thought I had it this time. What'd you say to get her to blow?" Sirius whispered. Remus looked at us in disapproval before being forced back to listening to Molly's rant. She didn't seem to register Sirius' words.

"I didn't. I'm just as upset about this as you are." I paused, registering his words, "You most certainly _wouldn't_ have got her. I've been working on her all day. _You_ on the other hand… I think she's getting used to you. _Remus_ got her." I glared at the werewolf, who looked over and gave me an unimpressed look.

"What? He's not even playing. Do we give him points?" The look transferred to Sirius, who was now also glaring at Remus.

"I don't know… this may be a secondary blow, like she does whenever the twins mention the joke shop or something…"

"I think we'll have to wait it out and see her temperment towards us after its over. I hope Remus doesn't get the points. We'll never see those galleons again." The rant ended when her pot almost boiled over and she turned her anger into the meal. I guess this meal wouldn't be made with love.

Remus sat still, holding his head in his hands, a headache surly forming. I motioned to Sirius, who summoned a potion and handed it to him. Remus drunk it down gratefully. Harry watched the entire exchange with curiosity and underlaying anger.

"Here you are Sirius." Molly stated after dinner, handing him a plate with desert on it before retreating to the kitchen to begin cleaning.

"Damn." We both whispered quietly, handing over the large monetary amount to Remus. She had exploded at me yesterday, which meant that Remus' explosion was worth more, what with it having less time to build up. He accepted the money with no questions asked. He knew of the game, and while he didn't approve, and _certainly_ didn't _play_ , he had no problems accepting winnings for it. Hypocrite.

Remus filled me in on everything that night in the kitchen after everyone had gone to bed. Sirius joined us and got drunk. Remus left the two of us to finish our drinks, hot cocoa for me and firewhiskey for Sirius, and to talk.

"This years going to be hard on Harry. Dumbledore's plan is stupid." Sirius stated, repeating his earlier sentements from when Remus was relaying the information to me.

"Agreed. Though I'm not sure I care much at the moment. He's being rather rude to me. You heard him earlier, what he said. I'm fairly used to the barbs now, but they still hurt. Plus, I've never sent him a letter in my life, yet he expects one containing sensitive information about my whereabouts in a fidilus protected house? He needs to have some sense drilled into him. Or maybe a wake up call to reality. He's like the poster child for teen angst." Sirius snorted and took another swig of his whiskey.

"Does this mean your crush on him has passed?" He asked with hope. He and Remus were far too overprotective. I glared at him and remained silent. Was my crush on Harry passed? Not yet, but it seemed to be fading.

"How've you been doing lately?" I asked, changing the topic. He didn't seem to mind much. He loved Harry, sure, but talking about him reminded him of what he missed out on. What the price of his anger was.

"Better. I think it has to do with Harry and the others _being here_. Makes it a little more bearable. I don't know what I'll do when it's just me here. After you all go to school, Molly and Arthur are going back to the Burrow, and Dumbledore is sending Remus on some recon stuff. He'll be back as often as he can, but that doesn't help. I'm trapped here just as much as I was in Azkaban."

"At least here there is stuff to do. You can read, send me letters, send Harry letters, send me letters to give to Harry, hang out with Buckbeak, yell at your mother and vent your frustration on her, hell, you can even play chess with yourself, or with Kreature, he's surprisingly good."

"I get the feeling you want me to keep you informed _and_ keep in touch with you." He said with a smirk.

"Of course I do. However, if things continue to get worse, I don't know how long it'll be until you need to stop sending letters. I wouldn't put it past our new defense teacher to check the mail."

"What do you know that I don't?" He asked with a confused furrow in his brow.

"It's always the defence teacher." I stated with a little smile.

"Fair enough. It still sucks that I'll be stuck here." He told me, his frown had traveled to his lips now, but it was a sadder one now.

"How do you think I feel? I'm going to be stuck with the children of all the Death Eaters as my dorm mates. If it comes out that I'm muggleborn, I'm dead. I might as well just never go to the school _ever again_." We lapsed back into silence as we drained the rest of our drinks. Sirius sent me to bed shortly after even as he poured another glass of whiskey for himself. I left him to his solitude. He needed it sometimes after so long on his own. That was something Harry and the Weasley's weren't likely to understand like Remus and I.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Year 5 is over 20,000 words, so the parts are going to be longer, but there should be about 9.**


	23. Year 5: Part II

We got to Hogwarts without fanfare. Harry had appologized to his fellow Gryffindors, but he had yet to say anything to me. He tried, but I walked away from him every time. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure what to say to him. I wanted to forgive him for his behavior, but if I did he would be getting away with it. He had not only allowed Ronald and Ginny to make those comments without consequence, but he made one himself. It hurt. I wasn't sure I could forgive him entirely.

The opening feast had begun and I noticed an atrocious looking woman sitting at the head table. When she stood while Dumbledore was still making his speech, I smiled. It was nice to see someone to bring him down a peg. Though, ultimatly, it did break cerimony and was quite rude.

Hearing she was from the Ministry brought back thoughts from some of the information Remus had passed on. The words she spoke during her speech that made me unsettled. The Ministry was spying on Hogwarts and her speech all but confirmed that if you read between the lines. I mean really; "progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged"? Was she serious? Soon enough she would probably have unprecidented power over the school. She worried me already and we hadn't even had classes yet.

The first class we had with her was the nail in the coffin. She wasn't teaching _any_ practical. The theory she was teaching was also depressingly _simple_. It wasn't the proper level, not even enough to help us pass our OWLs at the end of the year. It was third year stuff that filled the manuals at most. They read like children's books. When I'd bought the books I had been curious, but when she began talking about her plans for the year, my worst fears were confirmed.

They were making sure we couldn't fight when the fight finally came.

Harry, of course, managed to get detention on the first day. He didn't know when to shut up. Hermione knew, at least, when to give up and let live. Harry had no survival instinct. It almsot made me want to forgive him, if only to ensure that he didn't end up dead from stupid decisions. Even if my crush was fading into the ether I would never want him dead, if only for Sirius' sake.

Speaking of Hermione, I looked over at her during class. She had her thinking face on and her glances toward Harry meant she was coming up with a plan of some kind. It was probably fool hearted and incomplete, knowing the Gryffindors. They didn't exactly foster good choices, just so long as you chose. When she glanced at me, I knew I would also be involved in whatever plan she was making. Oh, the joy…

I remained silent for the entirety of class, like I planned to do for the rest of the year. She wouldn't get the satisfaction of turning my words against me. The only way she would get to me, is with whatever plan Hermione was concocting, or if she found out my secret. I had a bad feeling about her and it wasn't just because she looked like a bottle of pepto bismol.

When Hermione joined me in the back of the library to study only a week after school had started, I knew something was going on in that mind of hers. She looked upset and well chided. I was worried for a moment that Pepto-Woman had gotten to her. However, that was likely to cause more _anger_ than _upset_ , so it was probably Harry since Ronald had a similar effect.

"I have a great idea…" She started, not selling this idea as great based on the sad tone of voice she used to introduce it.

"But?" I looked up from my book and looked at her determined face. She wouldn't be disuaded from whatever half-baked scheme she was coming up with.

"I need someone else, Harry in particular, though you are also needed in part. The problem is that he won't agree to it and if I only have you, well, no offence but it won't work without Harry." I sighed and pusehd my book away.

"Even though he's a pariah to the school because everyone thinks hes a liar?" I asked, her face darkened and she looked at me, fire blazing in her eyes. She seemed to cool off a little once she realized I was just stating the facts, not taunting or mocking Harry.

"They may think hes a _liar_ , but they wouldn't pass this opportunity up. Not if they knew what was good for them." Her eyes narrowed on nothing in particular and I got geniunly curious about what she was planning.

"What exactly is your plan?"

"A group to learn defense. I want Harry, and you to a lesser extent, to teach it. More so Harry because I know people are more likely to listen to him since you're…"

"A Slytherin pureblood that nobody likes and used to have the nickname Ice Princess?"

"Your current nickname is Stone Queen. Because of the impenetrable mask of indifference. It's almost as good as Professor Snape's"

"I can live with that… you know your plan is _horribly_ half baked, right?"

"Well, I have more of a plan than what I told you."

"By all means, continue."

"Well, I figure I'll put out feelers around the school. We have a meeting on the first Hogsmeade weekend at the Hogs Head, people sign up, we find a place to practice, Harry teaches us with you offering pointers and helping him from time to time, maybe teach a day or two yourself, and we all end up passing our defense OWL and living through the war I'm certain is coming." I blinked at her, wearing my stone mask that had apparently made my name.

"You know this is a whole new level of moronic, even for a Gryffindor, right?"

"It's not moronic. It's a plan, more than what you have I'm sure."

"I don't need a plan. I have Remus and my private dueling practices with him and Siri. I'm already past _NEWT_ level. I'm almost at the level of a first year Auror. Higher if Tonks and Moody are to believed. Closer to a thrid year Auror apprentice really. I beat Remus three out of seven times and Siri five times out of nine. I'm more advanced than most people here, including Umbitch. I might even be able to take on Dumbledore. His magic is mostly showy spells and I rely on my surroundings. I'm not exactly worried about passing my OWLs."

"See! This is exactly why you _need_ to help us."

"Tell you what. You start the club and finalize all the details, and I will join you and help out whenever you need me to. First, you need to convince Harry though. He's not exactly my biggest fan at the moment."

"That's just cause he has a crush on you." My head shot up at her words, meeting her smug smirk head on.

"He'd better not have." Her smirk fell as she rolled her eyes.

"You're as bad as the boys sometimes. I need to go, Harry wasn't happy with me when he left. Those blood quills aren't helping either." The blood quills. They were so stupid and not to mention illegal. It was a wonder the toad, as the twins called her, was getting away with using them. I suppose having the Minister's balls in your left pocket helped though. The government was run by morons.

Maybe I could overthrow them if I made it out of school without getting killed by some kind of disasterous attempt on Harry's life.

I packed up my stuff shortly after and made my way out of the castle. I was going to visit the centaurs with the twins tonight. When I arrived at the tree line the twins were standing there with one of the herd already.

"Hey you three, sorry I'm late, we ready?"

"We're not going." Fred said, sounding sad.

"What do you mean? We have a standing invitation."

"It has been revoked. You are no longer welcome to visit the camp and we would prefer that you ceased all trips into the forest. Bane sees it as for the best since the coming war between your own kind would negatively affect our tribe. He wished for me to tell you he was doing this only for the good of our people." George was glareing at the centaur, he seemed to greatly regret having to give us the news, but he was loyal to his kind above all else. I understood. I was too. If it came down to it I would protect my friends and family before I did the tribe.

"Thank you for the time spent with _your_ herd. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. Bring Bane a message from me, will you? Tell him he's a fool to believe that removeing humans from his tribe will help them keep safe. If anything it may just cause more problems." The centaur raised his bow slightly.

"Was that a threat to our leader?"

"No, that was a promise of what was to come. See, unlike him, I have loyalty. It's one of my house traits actually, so I would never threaten, or remove, people I found undesirable. Ronan would be displeased at his action." I turned my back on the centaur before he could respond, a small offence that showed my loyalties no longer rested with them, and walked away. Fred and George followed me.

Hermione had done the impossible. She had convinced Harry of her plan before the first Hogsmeade visit. Only just, but still done non-the-less. Now there was a small array of students from each house sitting in the pub, waiting for the meeting to begin. I was the only Slytherin present. The others gave me some odd looks. Hermione had told me she would tell anyone who asked that I owed her a favor. A big one.

The meeting began and went about as bad as I'd expected. Just when people were about to start leaving I looked to Luna and signaled for her to help them. She asked about the patronus charm he'd done in third year. That got everyone interested and the meeting was a success. Until it came to Zacharias Smith's turn to sign.

"I'm not signing until you tell us why the _snake_ is here."

"I thought my current nickname was Stone Queen." I adopted a sad tone of voice just to grate on his nerves. It seemed to work rather well.

"Well, I'm not joining if you do. You probably can't even duel without cheating." He commented, placing the quill back on the table.

"You seem to have mistaken me for somebody who gives a shit what you do or think." The boy looked furious at my easy dismissal of his rejection. Just to spite me, it seemed, he signed his name. The last few people doing the same. I looked at the page and then to the three founders of the group, particularly Hermione.

"Are you going to sign or not?" Cho Chang asked with impatience. Harry was looking at her like she hung the moon, the sun, and the stars. Chang gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. She was a little spineless in my opinion.

"Nope." Everyone gasped and looked at me. It was like we were in a sitcom. Hermione looked confused, questioning, and hurt; Ronald looked smug, as if he knew this would happen; and Harry was still focused on Chang. Idiot, did he not realize she was a gold-digger? And a moron?

"But… Hermione said you owed her a huge favor and that you would need to do this." Thomas stated in confusion.

"Hasn't anything ever taught you to not to believe everything you hear? Also, I never said I was backing out on a favor. I'm a Slytherin, we take favors like bonds. Speaking of, I want deniability that I was in this group in case the shit hits the fan. As such, I will pledge allegiance to the group with an oath, but I'm not signing." Hermione nodded at me and I performed the spell. Everyone seemed confused, like they were wondering what I was planning or what I thought might happen if I signed my name. I wasn't going to tell them that the paper was jinxed against whoever ratted on the group. Nor would I tell them that my wand oath had provided more freedom than them signing their name had. That would only make them hate me more.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	24. Year 5: Part III

Finding a place to hold the meetings turned out to be extremely easy. The Room of Requirement was a great wonder for me to explore outside of the meetings. It was something new for me to find in the castle, which hadn't happened since the twins showed me the Marauders Map.

Everyone arrived accompanied by Dobby, Harry, Hermione, or Ron. I sat in the room after being brought up by Hermione before everyone else. The room was empty for the most part. A few pillows were one the ground and dummies stood off to the side or, in Zacharias' case, the center of the room. Everyone looked around with awe, apparently an empty room was something to gawk at. Harry stood in front of everyone and stared dumbly for a few moments after everyone had settled on the ground and went silent.

"Right, shall we get practicing then? I was thinking the first thing we should focus on is the disarming spell." I thought that was smart enough. I would've started with a shield charm. Defensive is always easier than offensive, but the disarming spell was Harry's go to, so he was the most comfortable with it.

"That's easy! If I'd known that's what we'd be learning I wouldn't have come." Smith said, once more proving his idiocy. For a Ravenclaw he was pretty stupid.

"If you think it below you then you can leave." Harry stated. Smith didn't move so Harry went on to explaining the spell and showing the wand movement. He was doing the teaching in the same style Remus had used in class. Half theory and half practical. "Okay, let's start. We should all get into pairs." Everyone scrambled to find a partner. I sat in the chair that appeared behind me. I was peacefully watching until people noticed me sitting out on the sidelines.

"Why isn't Moon practicing?" Chang asked, sounding rather put out. Before Harry could answer her, I flicked my wrist and her wand came sailing into my hand along with three others. When I looked Chang in the eyes she seemed surprised.

"Because I have no need to. Hermione asked me here for help, not for me to learn. If I'm to help, then I already need to know everything they plan to teach you. Now, whose wands do I have?" Chang, Ronald, Smith, and Thomas came forward to collect their wands from me. "Get a better grip on your wands. They were too easy to come to me. I was only aiming for one wand, and it wasn't any of yours."

"Whose wand were you trying for?" Thomas asked.

"Hermione's. Hers only fell from her hand though, because none of you know how to hold your wand properly." They all scurried back to their partners and continued to practice. Nobody questioned why I was sitting out of the activities again. My dominance over them had been established.

"Fred, stop disarming Smith and get back to George!" Harry yelled. I snorted at that, it sounded like something the twins would do. This was why they were my closest friends and why I was their silent business partner. I wasn't happy that their mother had destroyed half their stock over the summer. She had gotten my frosty side for a week after she'd done that. Not that she knew why she was getting it, but it made me feel better.

"Barney!" I called with a snap. The elf appeared by my side. I needed to make some preemptive plans for the year in case Umbitch got her hands on the school.

"Missus Moon called for Barney?" He asked once he'd arrived. I heard the room go silent and could feel the irritation coming from the other side of the room. Right, Hermione was still on the whole 'freeing' the house elves thing.

"Yes, I was wondering… could you and the others keep me apprised of Umbridge's movements? She appears to be up to something and her finding out about certain things could cause me some problems on my way to world domination." I heard Smith whisper 'I knew it' under his breath.

"Moon!" Hermione screeched. I rolled my eyes and ignored her.

"Of course, I cans Missus Moon. Though I will need some compensation for going over the master's orders."

"Name your price."

"Thirteen sessions with the young-lings and watching over them on Halloween."

"Throw in information on Dumbledore's movements."

"Fourteen sessions."

"Fair trade. That is of course including when they tell you to keep quiet?"

"I's be head elf Missus, they don't order me directly. They's only order elves as whole. They's don't know they need extra command or what command is."

"Good. We have a deal then. I shall see you on Saturday for the first session." Barney nodded his head.

"Anything else for the prestigious Missus Moon?"

"No, that'll be all I think. Unless you want something to do? I can always think of something if you need."

"No, I be's busy. Will you's need robes again this year?"

"No, unfortunately it seems my treaty with the centaurs has ended abruptly with the rising of an evil megalomaniac hell bent on ruling the world."

"The elves shall remain your friends until the end Missus Moon. We never desert our peoples."

"Thank you Barney. I believe I've kept you long enough. Have a nice night and say hello to Misty for me." Barney nodded and cracked away. The whole room stared at me in stunned silence.

"What?" Weasley the youngest whispered in disbelief, giving a quick glance to Hermione.

"We now have insurance against the people who would disprove of us the most. Enjoying my involvement yet Smith? Aren't you all supposed to be doing something defense-y." The room went back to the state of controlled chaos it had been in before. A book appeared in front of me at my request. A Master's Guide to Dueling now laid open in my hands and I read for the rest of their practice. Occasionally conjuring something or testing a spell that I came across. Avis was a quick favorite and I bookmarked the page for my next duel.

Hermione and Harry approached me at the end of our fifth DA meeting to ask me if I would agree to teach the last one before we left for break. I only agreed under intense pressure.

I was one of the first people to arrive in the ever-changing room. Harry, Hermione, Cho, and Ron were the only other ones there. People were slowly trickling in, but I paid them no mind.

Sitting in my chair, I watched over my book as Cho hung onto and flirted with Harry, though he seemed to have no issue with it. He was probably just happy she'd finally noticed him. He's had a crush on her for so long. Even when he was speaking with me at the Yule Ball he had been watching her and Cedric with jealousy in his gaze. I doubted he would ever look my way with that kind of possessiveness.

I was surprisingly okay with it.

Luna sitting on the floor nearby drew me from my observations and to the nearly full room. The only ones still missing were Lavender Brown and the Patil sisters. The door opened once more and they entered, signaling the beginning of the meeting. Harry stood and walked to the front of the room, looking at the assembled students who had, to my chagrin, improved drastically under Harry's tutelage.

Don't get me wrong, they weren't great when it came to dueling, but they could cast decent spells now. I did have to wonder how this was teaching them to defend themselves when they hadn't actually had to yet.

"Today, I will not be teaching you. It's the last meeting before we leave for break and I wanted you all to think about what you learned today. I would also like to say that when we come back we will begin patronus charms. As such, you should begin thinking of some memories that you can use for it, though I caution you against trying it on your own. It is a taxing spell at first." Harry moved to sit back down next to Cho. I narrowed my eyes at him, he could've at least explained the situation properly.

"If you're not teaching us, then who is?" Dennis Creevey asked. Dennis was still quite young. He'd been brought in by his slightly older brother, Colin, who was only a year younger than me.

"I am." I stated as I stood up, allowing my chair to disappear. I let go of my book and it too went away before it hit the floor. Everyone was looking at me with incredulity. "If you want to leave, the door is behind me. If you don't leave now, you are to stay until the end of the meeting. You do not get to leave part way through because what I say doesn't agree with you. If you try, you will find you can't. I'm only teaching you once and I am determined to make what I teach stick in those tiny brains you all insist you possess." People shifted but it appeared everyone was far too curious to leave.

"What makes you qualified to teach us?" Smith, of course, asked.

"I've had formal training in attack dueling. I've also had more practice than Harry has. My teacher is _very_ thorough."

"Who was your teacher?" Chang asked. I had no reason to answer the question, so I didn't. My dislike of her notwithstanding, it was a matter of privacy.

"Let's begin, shall we? The art of dueling is to subdue your enemy _without_ fighting." I stated, staring at the faces before me. All of them seemed to be confused by my statement.

"If you aren't going to teach us how to fight I think I would rather Potter," Zacharias interrupted, "At least then we won't have someone _evil_ telling us what to do." he jeered, garnering a few hesitant nods. Chang was glaring at me, though I had no clue why.

"You call me evil, but you don't know a thing about me other than what house I was sorted into. What does that have to say about _you_?" Nobody answered, just as I thought. In fact, a few seemed to be thinking on my words. That was more than I'd ever gotten with Ronald, but I doubted it would last long.

"Carry on, Lily." Harry stated with a smile. Chang saw this and glared harder. I rolled my eyes, I'd dealt with Slytherin's since my first year. An upity Ravenclaw a year my senior that was learning from me? She had nothing on them.

"Dueling is, first and foremost, a _game_. Even when it's life and death, it's a game. You need to play better than anyone else in order to survive," my eyes went down for a moment, remembering Ronan's words, "Mercy is pretty thing, but it won't get you anywhere," I paused and looked at Smith, "When fighting, you give no mercy and take no pity. You fight to win. If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it." Eyes widened around the room. I saw Lavender lean into one of the Patils and whisper something.

"Isn't that a little… harsh?" Someone asked, it must've been one of the younger members. Maybe one of the Creeveys.

"No. Some of you may have heard the saying 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Does anyone know _why_ that is?"

"Because you can learn from your experiences?" Chang asked, I stared at her as I answered.

"Because what doesn't kill you will try again. Sure, the experience is learned from. However, with that new knowledge you need to prepare for the next time something like that happens, so that it doesn't happen again. Just think, if someone tried to kill you, and got away with it, would you just sit back and not figure out a way to avoid it happening again? No, you learn from it, you train yourself against it, and you don't take forgiveness."

"That's not very heroic." Colin Creevey muttered with a frown. I almost felt bad to disillusion him.

"There are no heroes in real life, just like there are no villains. There is no black and white picture of good versus evil. There _are_ people with different agendas, that's all. And, furthermore, if you spend your time in battle hoping for someone to save you, well, you'll end up dead faster than you can fix your views and defend yourself. When in battle you rely on yourself and yourself _only_.

"This is why I plan to impart the importance of control. Feelings only have one place in a battle and that's tucked behind a visage, motivating you to survive. Your real feelings are precious things and, as such, they should be better guarded than Gringotts. If your opponent sees your emotions, he sees your weakness and then he can exploit it."

"But your feelings are what motivate you. You just said so." Brown stated with a glance to Ronald. _Disgusting_.

"I did, but you can have feelings and not show them to the world. I can see something hilarious and not laugh, just like I can see something sad and not cry. You need to learn not to let emotion _control_ you. It can fuel your magic, but it can also hinder it." I looked at Harry at this point. He was susceptible to letting his emotions control him. A few people followed my gaze to see the boy watching me intently. I hadn't told him what I was planning on saying while teaching, only that I would demonstrate attack dueling as the practical portion. I could see his conflicting thoughts running across his face all through my monologue. The twins had a look of agreement at least; they were the only ones. They were also the oldest ones, probably the only ones who remembered the last war.

"Okay… so when you, Moon, end up battling your family in the end, you'll hide your feelings about it and not let them know the truth?" I knew Corner meant it as a stab at my supposed pureblood status. It wasn't very inventive, my housemates were better. It was actually just sad. I decided to take him down a peg anyway.

"I don't care whose DNA has recombined with whose. When the shit hits the fan, the people who stand by me without flinching are my family and I will destroy everyone else with a serene smile on my face.

"Blood does not make family. _People_ make family. The quicker you learn this the better your quality of life will be. Oh, and Corner, since you seem to doubt my dueling abilities, why don't you come be my test dummy, I mean dueling partner?" Corner glared, but I saw a few people stifling their laughter. He stood to join me, standing stiffly about ten paces away. Ahh, so he thought this would be a _fair_ fight.

"Levecorpus." I waved my wand in a bored manner. Corner was now hanging midair by his ankle. His wand fell to the floor with a prattle.

"That's cheating!" His face was turning red, but I didn't know if it was anger or the blood rushing to his head.

"That's right." He seemed confused that I had admitted it, but still angry, "You seemed to be under the illusion that the people you're all training to fight will fight fair. That they will follow _conventional_ dueling tactics. Reality check ladies and gentlemen! These people are fighting children less than half their age, two against one, with no mercy. They aren't fighting to be _fair_ or _make a point_. They're fighting to kill; to _win_. If you want to survive you need to get that through your thick skulls." The room was absolutely silent and I finally let Corner down, gently. He still made a satisfying thump when he hit the ground.

"She's right," Harry said, "They don't care that we're children. They care that we're not joining them."

"Today, we won't be going two against one since none of you are at that level yet. Maybe in the future we can if someone wants to. Today, you will be fighting me, two at a time in your normal pairs. If anybody wins, they will move to the side and fight any other pairs that win. Spells are limited to _non-injuring_ ones. If you cast a reducto or bombarda, it is on something other than the opponent. In this, a stunner is equal to a killing curse. You can disarm, you can go for shield and deflection charms, you can cast jelly legs. Anything that is not going to injure the other person. It must be a spell with a counter. Get in line with a partner."

The next hour was spent dispatching pair after pair. Hermione and Ronald, as a pair, had put up the most fight so far, though Luna and Neville had held on as well. Still, nobody had beat me. I had summoned chairs and doors to intersect their spells on top of my shield charms. I had managed to disarm at least half of the group and stun everyone I'd fought in under 10 minutes. Hermione and Neville lasted 15, their partners going out earlier then them.

The twins hadn't done bad either, though they didn't seem to be trying to hard. They'd dueled with me before over the summer and since we had returned to school. When working together they had beat me twice, on their own we usual tied. Since they had gone towards the middle of the line, they had been out to have fun and give me a break more than anything else.

This wasn't my best idea. It was far more magically taxing than I expected because of the sheer number of shield charms I needed to hold. It didn't help that we were working on a taxing spell in Charms earlier today either.

It was down to the last pair, Harry and Cho. Everyone watched us intently. Harry was a decent dueler from what I'd seen, a little reliant on the disarming spell, but still good. Cho was sloppy, but she had emotion on her side. She hated me guts. I still saw Harry as the bigger threat here. He would be the first to go.

"Ready?" Harry asked, I shot the first spell in response. He had been expecting it at least. I was magically exhausted, so I would need to rely on my surroundings more than my casting for this duel. I summoned doors and chairs all over the place, tripping them and distracting them. My focus was on Harry more than Chang.

Eventually I saw Harry winding up for a stunner and pulled a mirror in front of me at the last second. This time by a conjuring spell rather than the room. I wanted it to be fair. The stunner shot back at him and he went down. I had conjured it to close to him for him to react.

I started on Chang with vigor now that Harry was out of the way. I felt a spell rebound and rolled out of the way before it could reach me. That appeared to have been Chang's plan though, seeing as how she'd just conjured metal spikes on the floor to either side of me. I rolled over them and sliced my arms and legs open in various places. It was painful and it stung, but I ignored it.

I heard a few shouts of disapproval, including a newly revived Harry's. I also heard Lee Jordan shout foul somewhere to my left. I paid it no mind and attacked in rapid succession. Chang was surprised by the speed that I was casting and barely managed to keep up. Her emotions were showing on her face like a portrait and I used that to my advantage.

"You know, Chang, if you wanted to hurt me so much there were better ways to do so. I mean, it's obvious that you hate me, but to _break the rules_? That was just cruel." She seemed to take offence to that, so I stopped talking. I was going to make a different comment, one that was actually supposed to bother her, but I guess she was easier than I thought.

"You… are… so… dead!" She screeched. The normally controlled aisin attacked fiercely. She had broken the rules twice now, since one spell she sent was a slicing hex, so I had no qualms about doing the same. I cast three slicing hexes in succession and disarmed her. All four spells hit her and she went down with a slice to her arm, thigh, and calf. Her wand was in my hand, and I finished the duel with a stunning spell before she could get up once more. I glanced at my watch, 14 minutes 30 seconds. She'd done almost as well as Hermione and had beaten Neville by five seconds. Harry had gone down laughably early.

I had expected some sort of concern towards me and my injuries, she was the one to break the established parameters after all, and had sent many slicing hexes my way, most of them towards the upper body. Instead I got glares from most of the people in the room as everyone crowded around Chang to see if she was okay.

"Oh, never mind me, I'll just heal the 20 some odd cuts by myself." I muttered as people fell over themselves to heal Chang. Harry was over there too, and he was casting glances my way. None of them were friendly.

Fred and George were the only ones to approach _me_ instead of her. They healed my cuts for me, each taking a side since I couldn't get an angle. George was inspecting me, making sure that the cuts wouldn't scar. Fred was the first to speak.

"You know that's not going to help with your popularity, right?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes, I'm aware."

"You know we love it when you're feisty, right?" George asked with the same grin.

"I've heard it said once or twice."

"Are you okay?" Fred asked with concern shining in his expressive eyes. I smiled at him and nodded slightly. I was tired, which they both seemed to sense if their restraining presence was anything to go by. I watched as people began to file out of the room. Hermione and Harry came over to the three of us before they left.

"What were you thinking?!" Harry asked, anger lacing his voice. I had my mouth open and was about to respond when George cut me off with cold eyes and a sarcastic tone of voice. I'd never really seen one of the twins with this expression, at least not since one conversation we'd had about their mother's disapproval and her comments about 'everyone in the family' being a prefect.

"Careful Potter, your emotion is showing." I was sure I'd just inadvertently damaged Harry's and my social relationship beyond repair.

"Yeah, well I'd rather have people know what I feel than be an emotionless robot!" He yelled before storming out of the room, proving what he'd just said.

I knew I wasn't quick enough to stop the hurt that flickered across my face, nor the flinch that only the twins caught. Both of their arms went around my shoulders in solidarity. They knew the truth and that was enough for me.

"Sorry about him. I thought you were brilliant. Do you mind teaching me that spell with the birds?" Hermione asked, I let the room summon my book and handed it to her.

"Page 52, Avis." She took the book and left the room. The twins each squeezed my hand with their free arms before suggesting some more prank planning. They summoned books and a long couch with a table in front of it. Pulling me to sit in between them and handing me the book they'd summoned, we curled up together on the couch, my head on one twins shoulder and my feet in the lap of the other.

It was late when they left and I didn't feel like walking back to the common room. I summoned Barney and asked him to bring me to my bed. He did so, pulling the curtains shut for me as I curled up on the bed, still in the bloodied clothing I'd worn for the duel, but infinitely more relaxed than I had been earlier. Barney snapped softly and I was in my pajama's, under the blankets, and what felt like a warming charm engulfed me. He left with a sad smile and I curled up in under the covers, hoping that life would be better in the morning.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I had fun writing Lily teaching some life lessons to everyone. I felt like she would be rather jaded from years of neglect from her parents and now from the other Slytherins.**


	25. Year 5: Part IV

I heard about Mr. Weasley's attack the morning after it happened. Hermione told me, answering my question about why Umbridge was storming around the school in anger. She was yelling at everyone that was not in Slytherin or who she was unsure about the blood status of. She was obviously a blood-supremacist and not subtle about it.

Although not many people were any more; subtle that is. Draco was walking around the school like a peacock in mating season. He was flaunting that he was untouchable.

I thought he was flaunting that he was the product of years of inbreeding.

Hermione was getting the brunt of her attack. She was the muggleborn friend of Harry Potter. Of course she would get the worst. She was also more powerful and talented, not to mention smarter, than most of the purebloods in the school. She had been given detention before lunch on the first day. We still had a week left before we could leave on vacation.

I waited outside Gryffindor Tower the last night, after Hermione was supposed to serve her final detention. Umbitch assigned one every night of the week leading up to the day we were meant to leave. She probably knew Hermione would be seeing Harry and was making sure the wound was fresh and clear enough to get him angry. I stayed in the alcove until I saw her walk down the hall. She'd been there for three hours and it was obvious in the way she walked. She was stumbling and staying close to wall in order to catch herself if she toppled over, which was often.

I darted from the alcove and grabbed her arm to steady her when she tripped over a raised stone in the floor. She went willingly as I pulled her into the alcove and forced her to sit on the bench it held. Her eyes were glazed over as she looked at me. There were tear tracks on her face and dried blood on her cheek, like she'd used her injured hand to wipe the tears away.

"I just wanted to be accepted. I never knew it would lead to this. I thought that if people knew I was smart then they would think I belonged in this world. Why? Why can't they accept me? What did I do to them?" Tears were trailing down her pale cheeks once more and my heart stuttered slightly. I scolded myself, I needed to be clinical, to make sure she was okay.

She was paler than normal and shaky from the blood loss. While she spoke I began to heal her hand. I saw the words that Umbitch had forced her to carve into her own hand. Never before had I wanted to kill a woman more than I did in that moment. The part that made it all that much worse was that I knew I could kill her without much problem. All it would take was a levecorpus and a slicing hex. She would be gone from this world and would no longer be able to hurt the _children_ in this school.

"They underestimate you. They don't think you can take them down so they try to take you down instead. Let me tell you a secret. Being underestimated is an advantage. It blinds people to the power you possess. You can use that power to kill them where they stand and force them to eat their actions and their words. You have the upper hand, _don't let them break it_."

"I don't want to kill people, I just want to live in peace with my books." I laughed at that. I would love it as well, but that wasn't what was going to happen.

"We all have our parts to play in this. I disagree with Dumbledore about nearly everything, but that is one thing that we agree on. I don't agree with who he's chosen for each of these rules, considering they're children and all, but the point still stands." Hermione's eyes were clearing, she appeared to be coming back to herself. She also seemed to realize that I had been casting spells and applying potions to her hand the entire time we had been talking.

"Thank you, for taking care of me. I appreciate it." I nodded at her.

"It's what friends do." I explained, knowing she would accept that.

"We haven't been acting like friends to you lately."

"Nobody ever said friendship was 100% reciprocal. I can be friends with someone and they could hate my guts. It's not going to stop me from helping them when they need me."

"Oh…"

"Now, I think you should get some sleep. I managed to steal all of this from Pomphrey, but I couldn't get any blood replenisher. She was all out. I had the elves bring some food to your room instead. Eat it. It should help, or make you feel better at least." Hermione went to her room with a whispered thank you, and I went my own way as well, avoiding detection the whole way.

The next morning we both ended up hiding in the same compartment on the train, trying to avoid everyone and keep away from the other Slytherins. I heard someone approaching and knew by the gait that it was Malfoy and his cronies. Without pause, I whipped out my wand, silenced Hermione, and removed her from sight. I felt her tap my shoulder in confusion until the door slid open and revealed Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Zabini and Daphne were standing behind them, looking cautious and unsure.

"Moon, hiding in the back of the train? What? Don't want people to find out who your parents are? Still trying to keep your blood status a secret? You know, if I didn't know better I would think you were a _mudblood_ like Granger."

"Yes, Malfoy, we all know you have a superiority complex and nothing to do with it but annoy the living daylights out of everyone you encounter with more than two brain cells. However, if you could, perhaps just this once, shut your mouth and leave me alone, I would be eternally grateful." I saw Zabini's lips twitch up slightly and Daphne roll her eyes.

"I _will_ find out who your parents are. You see, it's funny. My Father has never heard of the Moon family, nor that one had come over from America. That makes me think you're lying about who you are. I also happen to know someone else who has never heard of your parents. Odd isn't it?"

"Draco, what do you think you're doing?" Daphne whispered with some urgency. Blaise remained silent as he inspected me.

"See, that's the problem with you Malfoy. I would never expect you to be able to find my family. They're rather… buried. When it coms to seeing people, they can't. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough. Until then, make like a ferret, and scurry away." Malfoy scowled at me before turning and leaving me in peace. Blaise and Daphne remained behind, staring at me.

"Blaise we should go…" Daphne said looking at the unmoving boy. He was watching me curiously and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Burried, huh?" He asked with a questioning expression. Daphne stopped trying to tug him away and turned to him in confusion instead.

"Six feet deep some might say."

"My apologies for Malfoy. He needs to work on being discreet."

"It's of no consequence to me what he does or says."

"This is true, but one of these days he might say the wrong thing and you might end up dealing with the consequences." Blaise turned to leave then. Daphne nodded softly at me and followed him. I locked the compartment and placed a notice me not on it so we would remain undisturbed for the rest of the journey.

"Malfoy just threatened that You-Know-Who would be looking into your family and, by extension, _you_! Are you not freaked out by that? And what about Zabini?! He just threatened to frame you for Malfoy's actions! Plus Greengrass just stood there and let them. So much for house loyalty." Hermione burst the second I removed the silencing charm. I suddenly wished I had left it on.

"Not really, he can look all he wants. He won't find anything." I told her, trying to work out what Blaise had said. It made sense on the surface, but the thing with Slytherin's was that what you heard was rarely the whole story.

"Lily, your family is extremely popular in the muggle world." She pointed out, as if I didn't know that.

"Yes, and he's a person that would never think to look there for information. He's far too into the whole _pureblood_ thing, even if he isn't one."

"Are you going to tell the others? And what about Remus?" She asked. It was a good question, would I tell Remus? It would only worry him, but I did need to tell one of them. I couldn't tell the others for obvious reasons, mostly that they already didn't trust Malfoy and telling them wouldn't help anything. I might be able to tell the twins… they would listen to what I had to say instead of going off on Malfoy.

"I don't know, maybe? Malfoy is all empty threats Hermione. He is also far to much of a coward to talk to their _leader_ , let alone actually _ask_ for something from him that might turn out to be a dead end.

"That's one thing you need to understand. Pureblood etiquette is very finicky. If he were to ask about another family's purity it would be punishable by death in _His_ eyes. If he were to inquire to the other Death Munchers, it would be seen as a slight to the Malfoy name, which he won't risk considering who his father is. The only way he can find out for certain, is if he ventures into the muggle world and finds out or if I tell him. Seeing as how neither are likely to happen, I'm not exactly worried."

When we arrived at the station I could tell Hermione was still worrying over Malfoy's empty threat. The fact that she could see him watching me from where he was standing, waiting for his escort, didn't help. A member of the Order arrived to take Hermione to headquarters, but I would have to wait for another little while before I could leave. The line to the floo was rather long.

Malfoy began to walk toward me, but his father exited the arrival floo before he could reach me. I still had my normal mask on when he and his father took their place behind me.

"Would you care to go ahead of me Lord Malfoy?" I asked his father in proper form. He looked at me with slight approval, before declining. "Very well." Draco looked smug and his father was obviously curious about why. Their slate grey eyes were incredibly expressive.

"I wish you well for the holidays, Moon." Draco stated with a grin when it came to my turn. Malfoy Senior looked to me in surprise now. Obviously Draco had brought me to his father's attention if nothing else. I looked Draco in the eyes as I entered the floo and grabbed the powder.

"Black Ancestral Home." I stated, still staring into those eyes. He was surprised at my destination, but I was gone before he could ask anything. I was shoved from the floo at the old house, and Sirius was waiting to apparate me to Grimmauld. "That was fun." I said with a small grin.

"Tormenting Malfoy again?" He asked as I took his arm. Just before he went to apparate me I took my arm away. He looked at me curiously. "What's up?" I bit my lip and he sighed, sitting on the couch a few feet away and gesturing for me to do the same. Biting my lip was a tell that I let happen when I was around people I trusted.

"There was some… events that took place on the train that I think you should know about. I would tell Remus, but he would only worry. By the way, where is he? He was meant to come get me.

"I needed to get out of the house. It was somber before the attack, now it's downright unbearable. Remus is explaining some muggle stuff to Arthur. Keeping him occupied." I nodded. "Now tell me what happened. And why we're talking about it here."

"Because it's about Malfoy and I don't need the immature Gryffindors in the house to overhear and tell Harry only for him to challenge Malfoy to a duel." Sirius nodded.

"You going to tell the twins? And do you mind if I tell Remus?" He asked.

"I think I will and you can if you think you need to." He nodded again and motioned for me to continue. "Malfoy, for lack of a better word, threatened me with his Lord. Well, kind of… he said that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hasn't heard of my family and neither had his father. I have my doubts that he actually asked about me to Moldyshorts, but it seems that he has mentioned me to his father. Or at the very least, his father knows my name."

"And even though Malfoy is a spineless git, his father is not as much of one and you're worried that _he_ might ask after you." Sirius paused to think. "To be honest, I don't think he will. You know the pureblood rule about asking after another person's purity. Although, you can be sure that Lucius is smarter than his son is. He's been through more so it stands to reason that he is more cautious as well. He might inquire about you on a informal level… not about your blood status or family, but about you in particular. I don't think that crosses any lines…"

"That's what I was thinking. There's more…"

"More? I'm almost afraid to ask."

"Blaise Zabini…"

"The same guy that hinted at knowing after the second task?"

"That's the one. He was with Malfoy when he was taunting me. He didn't join in, but it would look weird if he did anything else. He's known to be rather neutral to this whole ordeal, even if his family isn't. Anyway, he said something and it makes perfect sense to me…"

"But if a Slytherin, or anyone of our parentage for that matter, says something that clear, it means that isn't what they are getting at."

"Exactly. I think… I think he knows something is going to happen but he's not quite sure what. His father isn't neutral in the slightest, he's very much on the dark side, so I think it may have to do with that…"

"What, exactly, did he say? Verbatim if you can please."

" _One of these days he might say the wrong thing and you might end up dealing with the consequences_." Sirius pondered this statement for a few moments, seemingly not coming up with anything.

"We should get back to headquarters. I'll think on it and tell Remus. Until then, just try to keep your head down and don't engage Malfoy or Zabini."

"Okay. Oh, by the way, Hermione knows everything that was said as well. I don't think it will be a problem, but there is the distinct probability that it will be." He nodded and stood, reaching out an arm or me to take once more.

Before entering the dinning room for dinner that night, I pulled Hermione aside. She had looked fit to burst ever since I had arrived.

"Hermione, just remember what I said. I can handle this without everyone else." I walked into the dining room and sat next to Sirius who sat at the head of the table. He gave me a slight nod, letting me know that he had told Remus.

Harry was sitting on his other side, which put us across from each other. He was still pissed at me and it showed. Remus and Sirius could probably see the tension, but obviously didn't want to ask. I hadn't been able to keep them informed lately because of Umbridge checking all the mail as it went out and came in. They would probably ask when their curiosity got the better of them.

"So, what has you glaring at our charge Harry?" Sirius asked. Well, I knew it would happen soon, but not that soon.

" _She_ cheated in a duel and someone got hurt." He stated, silencing the room.

"What?" Remus asked, looking at me. He knew I would never cheat in a duel, not after what had happened with Sirius. I had sent a spell that I didn't know the effects of, he had ended up stuck in duck form for two days before we found a counter for it.

"He's right. She cheated in a duel and _both of us_ got hurt." I stated, sending an unimpressed look at the boy. Remus looked concerned and opened his mouth to ask, but was cut off by the eruption of Mount Potter.

"What?! That is so not what happened!" Harry yelled.

"Calm down Harry. Lily, explain what happened from the beginning." Remus ordered.

"What makes you think she's going to tell the truth?" Ronald asked from down the table. Remus turned to him, his eyes flashing amber for a moment. This terrified most of the table, especially those who heard the snarl. He was extremely overprotective.

"Lily, talk." Sirius stated.

"Harry has been teaching the other students to defend themselves with a defense group called Dumbledore's Army; stupid name, I know. I go to most meetings in case anybody needs help, not that they listen to me. Hermione and Harry both asked me to teach the last lesson before break. I agreed and taught them a few life lessons. Then I allowed them to go against me in pairs of two, one pair at a time. Nobody managed to beat me, though Hermione lasted for 15 minutes and Neville for 14 and a half. And the twins didn't even try.

"Harry was teamed with Cho Chang and they went last. I got Harry taken care of fairly quickly, seeing as how he's way too reliant on one spell and doesn't use any defensive magic. That meant it was just Chang and I. Chang doesn't like me for reasons that are out of my control. She let _emotions_ run the duel. She rebounded one of my spells and when I went to roll out of the way, she conjured metal spikes on all sides of where I stood. I got hurt, which was against the rules; nothing harmful or without a counter.

"I continued to maintain integrity over the duel, but she did not. Several slicing hexes were mixed in with her spells, all of which were aimed top and center. She didn't manage to hit me with any, but because of the spells, I was at a disadvantage. I cast three slicing hexes, weaker ones than what she was sending, and a disarming spell in succession. All three spells hit her. Arm, thigh, and calf for the slicing hexes. I won the duel since stunner equals death, and as I mentioned, it hit her.

"Everyone appeared to think that _I_ cheated in the duel and beat her unfairly, with the exception of the twins. Hermione seemed on the fence and didn't take sides. Though that's just because she doesn't like Chang. Since Harry has a massive crush on Chang and might be dating her, haven't a clue about that, he took her side regardless of the first inequality being cast. Now, you see, Harry is angry at me for beating his girlfriend slash crush in a duel in which she cheated. It might also have to do with the fact that I can control my emotions more than he can, or male ego being wounded by me getting him so quickly, but I think those two are slightly less likely." The table remained silent for several minutes.

"What are you all thinking! Starting a dueling club? With no supervision?" Molly exclaimed, berating everyone at the table. I rolled my eyes. Of course that's what she focuses on.

"Harry, I think I need to tell you that what Chang did was actually a very big slight. To have broken pre-established rules or guidelines in a duel is akin to cursing someone with their back turned. What Lily did was warranted, and the only reason you're angry is because hers _beat_ Chang's spells. I sincerely doubt that you would care this much if it were Lily who'd been hit with the slicing hexes. You must not let your emotions rule you so much." Sirius stated with a grim look on his face. "And Molly, the kids want to learn how to protect themselves. Lily is extremely compotent at both healing and defensive spells. They have _her_ for supervision. Plus, I'm sure Lily has elves on call at all moments in case something happens?" Remus was nodding along with the entire explanation.

"Of course I do, I'm not an idiot." Hermione looked affronted. Molly sat and fumed in silence. As the meal went on only Remus, Sirius, and I talked to one another. Everyone was too scared to say something. Harry looked contemplative, yet still majorly pissed. His food was getting the brunt of his anger though. Hermione was looking at me with pleading eyes. I rolled mine in response and went back to teasing Remus with the help of Sirius.

"Malfoy threatened Lily with You-Know-Who!" Hermione blurted just before we all got up to leave. After everyone turned to her she continued at a near whisper. "And Zabini threatened to frame her for something."

"He did what?" Everyone at the table asked at once. Well, everyone but Sirius, Remus, and the twins. I'd told them when Sirius and I arrived.

"Really Hermione? I thought we had an agreement."

"No, you said some things that I didn't agree to."

"Hermione, I already had it taken care of. All you've done is told a bunch of people who are going to fuss and obsess over this. It was an empty threat. Just like the one about his father hearing about everything." I told her, disapproval lacing my words.

"That's not an empty threat! That's what almost got Buckbeak executed."

"No. What almost got Buckbeak executed was him attacking a student in class, and thus a accident form being filled out and submitted to the board of governors, which happens to seat Lucius Malfoy. Draco Malfoy is a spineless git that can't even hold a conversation with me anymore since I threatened to end him in no uncertain terms. That was in second year. If he was scared of me, a rather small girl in second year, you can be damn sure that he would piss his pants at the mere sight of their supposed Lord. Even _if_ he grew a spine, that doesn't change the fact that it would go against everything high society children learn to speak out about someone or accuse them of something without concrete evidence, which I haven't given him."

"You mean pureblood children?" Ronald asked with a glare. I turned on him, the anger blaring in my eyes rivaled that of his mother, Ginny, and Hermione combined. I was pleased to see him cower slightly even as I remained completely calm on the outside.

"No, I mean high society you ignoramus. I have never once stated that I was pureblood. You assumed I was because of my house and my manner. Has it ever occurred once to your three brain cells that I am a _muggleborn_ who grew up in _aristocracy_? Probably not, seeing as it doesn't fit your cookie cutter views of what I should be. Now if we are done learning all about me and my business, I think I will go. I have some reading to do, maybe I'll find a new possibly lethal spell to cast during my next duel. Which won't be with the DA by the way. I quit. Have fun and don't bother me unless you want to beg forgiveness." I sauntered out of the room, leaving the Weasley's that hadn't been aware of my blood status in a state of shock. I paused outside the door to breath deeply.

"Well… she seems to be awfully fragile. Can't even make a conversation without her being offended." Ronald stated.

"Fragile she may be, but she's not fragile like a flower. She's fragile like a bomb. That wasn't her going off in _anger_. That was her finally breaking after weeks of hurt. None of you seem to get what she goes through living in the dungeons. She doesn't keep her emotions in because she wants to. She does it because, if she didn't, they would eat her alive." Sirius stated.

"I recommend you all re-evaluate your misinformed opinions about my charge. I'm rather protective over her." Remus reminded the inhabitants of the room.

"So are we." One of the twins added.

"We've known the truth since her first year." The other twin continued.

"Also, unlike some people, she believes in and encourages other people in whatever endevors they deem worthy of their time."

"Like a joke shop for example."

"In fact, she's been helping us with pranks since we met." I smiled remembering when I met the twins, but decided to leave them all to their own devices. I went to my room to read some more books on offensive and defensive magic.

Nobody bothered me for the rest of break. They didn't ignore me, but they were extremely careful with what they said. Hermione had been the first to approach me and apologize. The first and the only. The other Weasley's were all too proud, and Harry just seemed too hesitant. We took the Knight Bus back to Hogsmeade, Remus and Tonks acted as our escorts. We all went our separate ways, no words spoken between us.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	26. Year 5: Part V

Hermione, Fred, and George were the only conversation partners I had over the next week. I usually met Hermione in alcoves or in the library where ever we happened to run into each other. Fred and George met me in the empty classroom almost every day. We usually talked about school and the joke shop, respectively.

They had held another DA meeting shortly after our return. I had gone to the room early and hid in a small antechamber where they couldn't see me. It was like I told Hermione, just because they disliked me at the moment didn't mean I would let them get hurt. Plus, I had made a promise to Remus and Sirius to keep an eye on them, lest they do something stupid and get themselves killed casting something they shouldn't. Which, considering who we were talking about, was very likely.

I was the only one who got hurt though. Since I wasn't in the room, as far as they knew, they felt safe to say what they really thought about me. Many of the members spent time shit-talking me. They used various insults and all I could think was that they needed better material. The Slytherins were much more creative.

"Yeah, she's a cheating death eater. I mean she lives in the dungeons with them, I wouldn't be surprised if switched sides and that's why she quit," Smith stated loudly. Fred, George, Hermione, and, surprisingly, Harry all had their wands on him in an instant. He was hexed and disarmed within moments. I felt bad for all of three seconds. Why did Harry stand up for me? Some sense of guilt maybe? The other three I understood. Needless to say, nobody said another word against me the rest of the meeting.

Everyone but Harry and Chang had left before long. I knew they liked each other, just like I knew he _didn't_ like me. I thought that maybe he would talk to her about the duel and try to get the truth off her. Instead, I watched him ask her on a date to Hogsmeade on Valentine's day. Then I watched her kiss him. I felt annoyance bloom in my chest and a roaring fire of anger in my ears. I wasn't jealous, which was surprising. But I was angry that he would let her get away without consequences, meanwhile he was acting like I'd joined the Death Eaters and was set to kill everyone.

That was when I knew my feelings had changed. I no longer felt the need to be around Harry, or to seem appealing to him. It was more like… I just wanted what was best for him. I didn't want him for myself, but I didn't want him with Chang either. She was no good for him; not to mention she was a bratty, rude, uppity gold digger, and was still hung up on Cedric. There was no way the two of them would last past the first date.

After they left I had an elf transport me to my dorm. It wouldn't do for anyone to see me exiting the room after them.

When Hermione met me early the next morning to tell me all about the meeting I feigned interest. She talked about the stuff they went over and everybody's skill levels at it. She failed to mention the comments about me and the kiss Harry and Chang had shared. I was certain she knew about it though, her eyes always gave her away.

We parted ways to go to breakfast. The Slytherin's seemed happy, unnaturally so. I looked around the hall to see Neville, pale faced and holding a Daily Prophet in his hands. My curiosity was suitably piqued now. When Hermione grabbed her paper and the color drained from her face, I had a bad feeling. Harry looked upset and was rubbing his scar like there was something wrong with it. Remus told me he was having nightmares and headaches lately. He also told me it might be connected to his scar and Voldemort's return.

I waited until most of my table left before snatching one of the Prophets that had been left behind. On the front page was a notification that Death Eaters had escaped Azkaban. And that Sirius had orchestrated it.

Well, that explained the looks on everyone's face. I suddenly worried that I had chosen wrong when deciding to be a Slytherin over a Ravenclaw. Life would've been so much easier if I was with Luna in her house.

Speaking of Luna, I had the urge to go feed the thestrals. I left the hall, and after a quick stop to the kitchens, made my way down to the forest and into the clearing the thestrals usually grazed in. It was far from the centaur camp, so they couldn't say a word about me being here.

I spent the day in the serenity of the forest, feeding the beautiful formation of death. I felt eyes watching me from the sidelines all day, but I didn't give Bane, who I was certain it was, another thought. He'd kicked me, he didn't get my sympathy. Not unless he apologized. He also went back on his word to Sirius, which was a bigger disgrace in my books than removing me from their herd.

Valentine's day was, by far, the most useless holiday to ever be made. It was a commercial holiday made for business owners to get money. I might be okay with it in a year or two when Fred and George's joke shop is open. Seeing as how I am an official partner I will be getting a part of the cash. For now though, I reserve the right to hate it.

If the holiday itself wasn't bad enough, I had nobody to spend it with. I know, I know, but not like that. The twins had dates with Angelina and Katie, which gave me mixed feelings. I didn't really like the girls and I knew they hated me. Hermione had some kind of plan involving Rita Skeeter and Luna, so neither of them were available. Ronald wasn't even close to decent company, nor was Ginny though she, too, had a date. Harry had a date with Chang.

I had nobody, not even a friend to spend time with. Normally I would meet Remus and Sirius, but that wasn't possible this year because Dumbledore was sending Remus on fool's errands. The close call at the beginning of the year was enough for Sirius to be trapped in his house as well (we didn't bother mentioning that he had come to get me at Christmas).

I wandered the streets alone, looking at all of the 'happy' couples. Daphne and Tracy were on a double date with two boys in Hufflepuff. Draco and Pansy and Harry and Chang were in Madame Puddifoots. The look on Harry's face was hilarious. He looked terrified of his surroundings and half asleep at his conversation partner. Apparently, he found her just as boring as I did. I kept walking when I saw him look at his watch and get up to meet Hermione at the Three Broomsticks. Chang followed after him, her incessant prattle flowing up the street to meet my ears as I walked. I huffed a laugh and turned onto a side street away form the main traffic. Harry and Chang passed by; he had the most put upon look on his face.

I carried on my way a little further when I was confronted with the sight of Blaise Zabini sitting on a rock. He was looking at me challengingly. I walked over and hopped up next to him, which seemed to be a surprise for him.

"How's it going Zabini?"

"Can't really complain all that much. You?"

"Same. Although, there was an incident not too long ago that involved an exploding potion…"

"Exploding potion? Neville wasn't in classes all week and nobody else exploded their potion."

"I never said it was in class."

"Huh… what were you brewing?"

"A kind of edible candy that, when ingested, can make the person walk up a wall and on the ceiling. A little like a spider?"

"That's… not what I expected to hear…" I nodded and looked around. We were near the path that lead up to the school and if I remembered correctly, if we followed this path it would let out near the forest.

"Follow me. I want to talk to you where we won't be overheard." I jumped down and he followed me reluctantly. We walked in silence and I received an intrigued eyebrow when I led him into the forest. I brought us to a clearing that usually held hippogriffs. It was clear for now, most of them out hunting or visiting Hagrid for free food. The man spoiled them.

"Come here often, do you?"

"Yes, now sit." I pointed to a clear patch of grass that looked relatively clean. He looked at me for a moment before doing so. I sat across from him and he remained stone faced as I scrutinized him.

"So, small talk?" He said with a false grin. "My favorite color is blue." I rolled my eyes.

"Nobody will be able to hear anything we have to say out here. I would like to know what you think you know and in return I will offer answers to your questions and confirmation of your theories. On the condition that you take a wand oath saying you won't discuss this conversation with anyone and won't say a word about what you find out unless I give you permission."

"Deal. Besides, if they found out that I knew and didn't do anything they would treat me as bad as they would you." We both made the oath and started to think of what we wanted to know.

"That comment you made on the train, explain it."

"As you know, my father is one of His followers. I'm not, obviously, but I need to act the part or risk severe consequences. At the end of break my father came home from a meeting talking about how there were plans for some kind of trap. He is currently setting it all up, laying the ground work and all that. He said something about Malfoy, Avery, and Dolohov. That's all I know. But, if Malfoy senior fails at this, well, you can be sure Draco will be getting marked to take his fathers place." I nodded. That made sense, now all I needed to work out was what the plan was. Blaise obviously didn't know anything about it.

"That's all you know about the plan, right?" He nodded, and I returned to thinking.

"So, are you muggleborn or was one of the great Moon's secretly magical?"

"Well, you obviously already know who my parents are. You heard Malfoy, his father has never heard of my parents. What does that tell you?"

"So, muggleborn. And you fit in because you're rich and you grew up in relatively the same environment. Right?" I nodded and thought up my next question.

"Why are you so okay with me being muggleborn? I know that you aren't predispositioned to hate us because of your upraising or house. I'm proof enough that our house isn't evil, but you do hang around with Draco…"

"The Malfoy and Zabini families are close. The Malfoy's helped my family when we came over from Italy. If I didn't have some kind of relationship with Draco it would look weird and raise too many questions."

"Makes sense…"

"Where do you go all the time, other than the forest apparently?"

"I do spend a lot of time in the forest, but I also go to the kitchens to sit and talk to the elves, help them learn proper speech and how to read. They act as my informants around the castle too, so I get reports from them while I'm there. I also go to the library and empty classrooms to meet up with friends."

"Who?"

"I do believe it's my turn, but I will let that go. I've found out most of what I want to know. Hermione Granger is who I meet in the library. She's a decent study partner, a little naïve, but she picks things up quickly and isn't afraid to apologize or admit she was wrong."

"I can see that…"

"As for my close friends… the Weasley twins and I have been friends since I was in first year. I'm a silent partner in their joke shop as well. They needed funds, and I have more money than I could possibly need."

"That's… unexpected."

"Actually… would it be alright if I told them about this? I tell them everything and they know when to keep quiet."

"I guess that would be alright. Just make sure they know not to blow my cover."

"They haven't blown mine, but I'll tell them anyway." He nodded in acceptance.

"Is there anyone else that you know is of the same mind as you concerning me or muggleborns?"

"Daphne doesn't really have any prejudices but her little sister and her parents do. She doesn't suspect anything about you. She actually misses you, she says that with only the other girls to talk to the conversation is very boring." I laughed slightly at that. "Your parents are dead…"

"Well spotted." I stated with a deadpan.

"Sorry… you don't seem too upset by that fact."

"We were never close. I'm assuming, because you know about them, that you know what they were like in the media?"

"Yeah…"

"They were the same towards me. Fake smiles to distance them and not really caring for anything but themselves. They only cared about what I could do for them." He nodded in understanding. From what I knew, he had a similar childhood.

"So, if you don't have your parents, and if I remember correctly, no other family, where are you living?"

"I was with my family lawyer for the first summer and he was listed as my guardian for the school year. I was formally adopted by someone in the magical world at the beginning of summer after third year."

"By who?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Seriously? Isn't that a little… dangerous?"

"Oh, really! You all act like he transforms in front of me every day and has to restrain himself from killing me. I understand the Greyback gives werewolves a bad name, but he's more like a puppy dog than a monster."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to touch a nerve."

"It's fine. I just hate having to hear it all the time. Usually it's from him though, so this is more acceptable."

"Oh…"

"He's a member of the Order of the Phoenix. If this comes down to a war and you want a safe place to hide from it or you want to fight for yourself, well, you can just ask me."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I don't know if I would want to fight or not, but I appreciate the offer of sanctuary."

"No problem."

"So I take it you are planning on fighting?"

"Remus and Sirius have been teaching me to duel actually. I pass Moody's inspection and he estimates I'm at the same level as a third year auror in spells and their application. My only problem is frequent magical exhaustion."

"Sirius? As in Sirius Black?"

"Yup."

"I'm not even going to ask."

"Probably best that you didn't." He nodded. We both looked to our right when the sound of hooves on the dirt approached. I had expected the hippogriffs to be returning, but instead I was greeted by Lalinna.

"Hello Lily. Lily's friend." We both stood, and Blaise bowed slightly as I waved.

"What are you doing way out here Lalinna? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing I can't handle. I'm really just running from the fighting between Bane and Firenze."

"Oh… I would be too."

"You should both be heading out. Discord and all that, don't want either of you getting hurt or killed because the spiders were hungry." She turned and left and I decided to head her advice.

"We should probably follow her advice. Follow me, I know a shortcut that bypasses the spiders"

"Spiders?" Blaise asked with a pinched expression.

"Acromantualas. There is a colony living in the darker portion of the forest."

"Let me guess, they're also friends."

"I don't think they are really _friends_ with anybody. But they do seem to like me."

"You, Lily Moon, are one terrifying girl." I smiled and lead him through the forest. He asked a few more question and I asked some about his family, but we kept the conversation light. When we reached the edge of the forest we paused.

"Inky." I called with a snap. The elf appeared in front of us with a large slab of raw meat.

"Fors the horsies Missus Moon." She stated as she placed the meat on the ground. I smiled at her.

"Horsies?"

"Thestral's." He looked so done with everything. "I'm going to go feed them now. You're welcome to come with or Inky can take you to the castle."

"I think my mind has been broken enough today. I don't need to see the personification of death nuzzling you. Thanks for the offer." I smiled.

"Oh, Blaise, they don't nuzzle me… they cuddle me. And yes, there is a difference." He rolled his eyes and looked at the elf.

"Can you bring me to the Slytherin fifth year boys dorm please?" Inky nodded and held out her hand. Blaise was hesitating to take the hand, obviously trying to be nice, but hesitant of the blood.

"Inky, the blood." The elf looked down, gasped and vanished the mess before reaching for Blaise once more. He sent me a thankful look before grabbing the offered arm and disappearing.

When March arrived, it brought a surprise. I watched as Umbridge sacked Trewelay and had her mini showdown with McGonagall. I watched as Harry chased Dumbledore after the whole ordeal. I watched as Dumbledore ignored him completely.

I heard the next day, from some disgruntled Slytherins, that Dumbledore had given the position to a centaur that had been kicked from his tribe. That night, I walked to the divination tower and saw Firenze standing at a window, looking out at the stars.

"He kicked you out?" I asked, not needing to announce myself around the man. He had likely heard me coming.

"He did to you as well. I was not a part of that decision and, in fact, greatly opposed it."

"I understand what he's trying to do, even if I know he's going about it wrong."

"Just go to your dorm Lily. The matters of the tribe are of no concern to you." Firenze looked at me with soft, patient eyes. Underneath though, lay a darkness that had often lurked in Sirius' eyes.

"I'm sure you are aware that he will come to his senses soon enough." I bid as I turned to leave the man to his grief. He'd just been disowned from his family and thrust into a castle full of people that thought him lesser. I would say that warranted grief.

I, unfortunately, understood his plight. At least I didn't have to face it myself.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	27. Year 5: Part VI

Harry was with Hermione when met her in the library on the last day of March. He looked sheepish, Hermione looked exasperated, and I was faintly amused. I rose to greet them both, but Hermione shook her head and left us alone in our little nook.

"Hermione reckons that I should talk to you alone."

"About what?" I questioned.

"We… _I_ want you to come back to the DA. I want you to help me teach them the patronus. And I want to apologize to you."

"Why?" I asked, referring to the apology. I wondered if it was just to make himself feel better or if Hermione had forced him to. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

"I've been an arse lately… though I'm sure you could come up with a better description. I know Remus and Sirius tell you everything, so you know about the dreams and headaches. I think it has to do with my scar and the return of You-Know-Who. It's no excuse for how I've been acting, but I hope you'll accept my sincerest apologies for it." I narrowed my eyes at him. That almost sounded scripted.

"Are you only apologizing because you need my help? Because, you do know that I would help either way. Just because somebody doesn't like you, doesn't mean you turn your back on them and leave them to die." He looked at me in silence for a few moments, he looked like he wanted to dispute that. I rolled my eyes. He still had a lot to learn.

"You've been coming to the meetings, haven't you?" He asked in defeat a few moments later, just when I was about to begin reading my book again.

"I may have been present at a few of them. Thank you for hexing Smith. He's almost worse than Malfoy when it comes to being annoying." Harry flushed pink and turned away. I knew he hadn't actually _sent_ a spell. Hours of replaying the scene in my head for entertainment made me realize that only three spells had hit Smith. I wanted to make Harry squirm, it was my fundamental right as a Slytherin after all.

"He deserved what he got. He accused you of being a Death Eater. That's not acceptable, regardless of house." Harry carefully avoided acceptance of my false gratitude, for deniability. Looks like I was beginning to rub off on him.

"So, what I say _does_ penetrate that thick skull of yours." I grinned as he glared at me. He was sitting next to me at the table now instead of standing across from me awkwardly.

"Sorry for taking over your 'Hermione time'."

"Meh, she tends to prattle on about you and Ronald anyway. This is just as good." He chuckled slightly and turned to face me, finally looking me in the eye.

"So, what do the two of you talk about anyway? Aside from Ron and I? Also, you know he would hate that you call him Ronald."

"Oh, this and that. Her immense crush on a person I shall not name, and my supposed one on you. She seems to have gotten it into her head that we'd be perfect for each other and that you have a crush on me. It seems she ignores basic fact since I'm pretty certain I saw you and Chang kiss at least twice. Also, that's why I call him that." Harry had flushed a deeper red by the end of my speech, but his smile was sincere at least. He shook his head slightly at my last comment.

"I'm not dating Cho. She spent a lot of time talking about Cedric. I don't think she's really over him." I rolled my eyes. Of course she's not, he only died a few months ago.

"Yeah, that and she's kind of boring." He didn't answer beyond that, making me feel better since that meant it was probable he wasn't harboring an infatuation for me. We sat in silence, both staring at the wood grain like it held the secrets to the universe.

"I don't want to fight him." He whispered a few minutes later.

"I don't want you to either. I want to live." I responded, no need for any clarification on who the 'him' is.

"Do you think I will get out of this alive?" He asked, ignoring my slight this time. It was second nature for me to insult people. The twins knew to take it in stride now, and often responded in kind.

"I'm going to make sure of it. You're my friend and I protect what's mine no matter the cost. I may not be willing to die for you like Hermione and Ronald, but only because there would be no point. I _am_ willing to kill for you though. Just point the finger and I'm there."

"Can you kill Snape, in that case?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot. Not yet anyway. He's loyal to us for now, the second he's not I have no reservations against it. Just out of curiosity, what has he done to finally warrant death?"

"A lot." I nodded at him and accepted the answer for what it was, an evasion. We sat mostly in silence, with the odd conversation, for another hour before we both needed to go in order to beat curfew. I hated Umbitch. Even more so since I finally saw the words on Harry's hand. Hermione's had been bad, but, like with everything, Harry had it worse than her.

The next night I sauntered into the Room of Requirement with a smirk on my face and a challenge in my eyes. People stared as I went over to my customary seat and waited for the meeting to begin.

"Alright, so, patronus charms. They are very complicated, but I think you should all be able to do them with the right motivation. First you need to think of the happiest memory you can, then point the wand, and say the incantation. It does take lots of energy the first few times, so just be careful once you get it. The goal is a corporal patronus, but that can take time. You may begin." I watched as everyone spread out and began to think of their happiest times. A few wisps of silver fell from different wands, but nothing much. "If your memory doesn't work, it's not strong enough. Find another one. Only truly dark wizards and witches can't cast the spell."

"Does that mean that she can't?" Chang asked with an innocent smile and a glare at me. Harry looked over at me and nodded for me to show Chang.

"Expecto Patronum," I waved my wand in a lazy manner as a silver bird darted from my wand. It was still my vulture. When it landed on my shoulder and glanced at everyone in the room, looking for the threat, people's jaws dropped.

"What even is that thing?" Smith asked in disgust.

"It's a vulture you uncultured swine." Harry chuckled and came closer. The bird was attuned with my feelings and knew I didn't register Harry as a threat. When Harry stood by my side he stared at the bird in slight awe. Everyone went back to work on theirs, trying to one up mine.

"I never really got to see the shape it took in third year. What do you know about the shapes a patronus takes?" Harry asked, a look on his face that meant he was thinking about something.

"Well, it can turn into anything really, so long as it represents the caster. Since they are in tune with the caster, they also know when you get scared at a person's approach and will typically try to attack."

"Good to know I don't scare you."

"Potter, you're as terrifying as a baby panda."

"A baby panda?"

"They're smaller than a mouse at birth."

"That's reassuring. Glad to know Voldy won't be terrified at my mere presence."

"Yeah. Oh, also, because of the emotions thing, your patronus can change forms. It can happen after an intense emotional trauma or upheaval, like the death of a family member. Although, more often, it changes to a complement of a person you are deeply in love with. If it's the same form it would be because you are infatuated with the person, and yes there is a difference. Since magic is very much in tune to your soul, it is said that those who share a patronus or rather those who have patronus' that complement each other are soulmates."

"Huh." Harry's looked intrigued during my explanation and I was about to ask why when a commotion drew our attention. A hare had burst forth from Luna's wand. I smiled at the girl, even after everything she went through, Luna was still one of the happiest people I knew. Soon enough a few more animals filled the room. A quail and a sparrow sat on either side of the twins, a terrier sat near Ronald, and an otter swam in the air next to Hermione. A horse galloped around the room, Ginny's laughter telling me who it belonged to.

Harry walked away to direct the people who were still having trouble with the spell and told the people who had accomplished it to keep recasting it to strengthen the spell. I watched him for the rest of the lesson, wondering about his reaction to my explanation about a patronus changing. Had his changed? Remus had told me it was a stag before. If it _had_ changed, what had it changed to and why? Was it Cedric dying in front of him? That was probably it. Seeing someone die affected people.

It was true that before I would have wondered if it was me that had ignited the change in his patronus. Now I was comforted to realize that any feelings I had felt for Harry seemed to have dissipated over the last few weeks. It happened slowly I supposed. Sure, he was still attractive to me, but I didn't feel like I was in love with him; at least not in that way. He was more like a brother or someone that people (like Sirius) might expect me to end up with. Someone who was serious, but still knew how to have fun.

I don't think I can forgive him for the way he treated me since summer when he arrived to find that none of us had contacted him. The whole betrayal after Chang and my duel was also just a bit not good. Considering he refused to listen to me about how it wasn't my fault even after he had seen the duel with his own two eyes only made it worse.

Before I left the meeting, I handed the twins their birthday gifts with a large smile on my face. This year Fred got the bag of money and George got an adjusted formula for a joke product they were working on, along with a list of ideas for new ones and a small bag of treats from Honeyduke's. They both thanked me graciously after their customary attempt at denying the funds. I watched as they walked over to Angelina and Katie, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. I looked away quickly and left the room in favor of the kitchens.

I'd missed the twins. They both had girlfriends now and that limited our time, though Umbitch made it rather difficult for us to meet anywhere anyway. Even with that fact in mind, this wasn't exactly what I thought our next meeting would be like.

They'd left me a message after the last meeting and asked me to meet them in our empty classroom. When I arrived, they both had wide grins and were hiding things behind their backs. Both were vibrating with energy that would not be contained.

"What?" I asked cautiously. Their grins widened, which I hadn't thought possible. They pulled their hands from behind their backs and showed me some small shapes. A pig and a dragon were the two that caught my eyes. I smiled a little.

"We think we've perfected the wizbangs, thanks to your adjustments."

"We want to set them off for everyone to see,"

"Indoors, of course,"

"We think Umbridge would enjoy this one," Fred stated, pointing to one shaped as a toad.

"Be like seeing her family we reckon."

"I'm in." I interrupted what I'm sure was a well rehearsed speech about why I should help them, and the benefits that may befall me. Both seemed surprised, but I grabbed a few from their hands and shoved them in my pocket. I stared at their nearly identical faces while they recovered from the shock of my easy acceptance.

"Sweet, we were thinking the entry hall would be as good a place as any." George stated as we walked from the room, disillusion charms set in place. It was after curfew already, so nobody would be there to see us, but that also meant Umbridge and Flitch were on the loose.

We were halfway through setting the starters in place when I heard footsteps. I drew my wand and jumped from the wall I had been hanging on to reach the ledge. The twins were only on their tip-toes to reach, but I was much shorter than them. Theo Nott entered the entry hall, swagger in place, meaning he'd probably come form making out with some hapless victim in Ravenclaw, as was his MO. I shot a stunner at him before he noticed something was amiss. The bucket with the rest of the shapes was in the center of the room, a dead give-away if he'd seen it.

"Well, this complicates things a touch," George commented.

"Quick, let's hide his body." Fred stated, grabbing the boy's arms. We both looked at him in confusion. "Come on, Lily has nasty stunners. He'll be out for a few hours at least. We need to get him out of here. George, grab his feet. Lily, find a place to hide him."

"This is fun." George said, smile in place and a light in his eyes that had been fading the longer Umbridge was around. We were in the corridor just outside the hall and approaching a small closet. I was reaching for the handle when I turned to look at George oddly.

"Seriously? We're trying to hid a body," I told him, just in case he'd forgotten. His smile widened, a grin escaped my mask, completely unwarranted. They always knew how to make my mask crack, or fall off completely.

"I know. I meant that us spending time together again was fun. We won't get to do this for much longer." He explained as we shoved the boy into the small closet.

"It sucks that you two are graduating this year. I'm going to miss your freckled faces around here. It won't be the same. The only excitement will come from hearing about the trio's adventures." I locked the door and debated warding it against entry, but decided against it, lest someone check the magical signiture.

"Well, you will still get to spend time with us on breaks so it's not so bad." I smiled at Fred's comforting arm that had found its way around my shoulder. We walked back to the hall and finished setting the charges for the spectacle that nobody would see coming.

"So, when are you two going to blow them?" I asked with a smile.

"Tomorrow, around lunch we think,"

"Well, I'm off to bed. Goodnight boys, and happy birthday. Hope you have a good rest of the night." I gave each twin a hug that lingered just a little longer than the last ones and left them in favor of my dorm. I would've rathered stay with them, but that wouldn't have been practical. I needed to be in the dorm or else someone was bound to run to the teachers about me. I wondered what ever happened to house loyalty.

The next day at lunch the most magnificent firework show the world had ever seen went off in the halls of Hogwarts. The firework pigs chased students and every time they hit someone they exploded into more pigs. The massive dragon, the finale, was the biggest firework and the one that was specially designed to attack the toad. It was majestic as it chased the woman down the hall as she screamed bloody murder on anyone who she passed. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't gotten any credit for the prank, and then I felt bad as they both received detentions for the work of art. Though I must admit, seeing a hoard of children run towards the twins and pay them for more fireworks, and Flitwick's little dance of joy at the excellent example of charms work was very rewarding.

I was going to miss the twins when they left. I also got the feeling that wouldn't be as far into the future as everybody would think or, in Molly's case, want. Something on their faces when I mentioned graduating was what gave it away.

The escort home at Easter break was interesting to say the least. I sat in my customary compartment, though I started with the notice me not charm on the door to ensure I was not bothered. By anyone.

I sat alone the entire journey, thinking and reading. I had a bad feeling about the end of the year. It seemed to be when all the shit went down. Harry always faced evil between May and July.

I alternated between thinking about the evasion of the evil facing and studying for OWLs. I knew I would pass everything, what with my advanced studies in all my subjects. Therefore, I spent most of the trip on worrying. It didn't do me any good whatsoever.

By the time I disembarked the train I was no closer to a solution. The twins had their heads together on the other side of the platform, probably planning something to do with the shop, Harry was standing with Ginny, Ronald, and Hermione talking about something or other.

All my focus had been on Harry recently, figuring out ways to help him survive, but what about the others? Hermione and Ronald would both die for Harry and Fred and George were not quiet about their beliefs. I didn't care as much about Ronald as the other three if I'm being honest, but I knew Fred and George would rather die than see their younger brother do so. As I analyzed that thought I felt sick, what kind of person didn't care about someone dying?

It was dinner time when I finally arrived home. I wasn't hungry, so I went straight to my room, not a word spoken to the others in the house and remained there all night and most of the next morning. I had no need to leave since I had an en-suite and Kreature at my disposal. I only emerged when I heard Molly yelling from downstairs, closely followed by the dulcet tones of Walburga Black. I exited my room in annoyance to see what Molly's problem _this time_ was.

She was yelling at Sirius again, only this time he wasn't wearing his little grin. In fact, he was frowning and giving as good as he got. It appeared that the source of her anger was resting the in the crystal tumbler that he clutched in his hand. Remus stood in the doorway on the other side of the room and all the other underage inhabitants sat at the table, watching the scene unfold. I knew Remus wouldn't say anything, not wanting to upset anyone, ever the peace keeper. The others all seemed too scared to say anything, Arthur was at work, and Sirius' words only appeared to be making her angrier.

"Both of you shut up!" I stormed into the kitchen and glared at both parties. Sirius turned to look at me in surprise, and Molly in distaste. Neither heard me scream often, mostly because I didn't scream often.

"Lily, I don't think you understand. You may want to sit down and stay out of this," Molly stated with a sense of motherly superiority.

"Sit down and stay out?! Is that your solution to everything? Oh, Dumbledore said to abstain from speaking to Harry, guess I'll make some tea and do some knitting instead of asking any questions as to why. Oh, the order of the Phoenix is back and so is Voldemort, guess I'll sit here and keep my children, who are right in the middle of things, in the dark about everything. Oh, Harry is being forced to go back to his abusive relatives instead of with the slightly questionable Sirius Black who happens to be innocent. Seriously! It seems the only things you voice your opinions on are things that have absolutely nothing to do with you!

"The twins' aspirations for example, or in this case, Sirius' slight drinking problem. Well, I'd like to see you spend 12 years in hell and come out well mannered, properly adjusted, and entirely mentally stable. If he needs to spend the day drinking to get some fucking sleep at night, then let him. It's his life, _not yours_. If you think this is a bad role model, yet you have nothing to say against Dumbledore, Snape, or Umbridge, not to mention yourself, then you may just need to get your priorities in order before you start spouting your shit to anybody who doesn't want to hear it!" I left the room with a significant glance at Remus. I heard footsteps following me, but I ignored them.

"You know that was out of line, correct?" Remus asked as he shut the door to my room. I stared at Remus for a few moments. He looked passive and blank, which meant angry.

"Can we please leave this house for the rest of break? I just really don't need to be in this energy right now. I know what I said was uncalled for and was also extremely rude, but you may notice that it was also out of character before you get mad at me."

"I'd noticed that, yes. The Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione all seemed angry though. Sirius didn't seem all that pleased either. The only ones that seemed okay with it was Fred and George. Molly destroyed more of their products and I'm beginning to think they like you more than their own family."

"Can we please leave? Stay at another property?"

"I'm sorry, Lily, but we can't just _leave_. You can't run away from your words." I nodded, and he turned to leave the room. "You owe Molly an apology. I expect you to give her one by tonight." I glared at his back as he walked from the room. It wasn't often that Remus ordered me to do things, but when he did it was imperative that it be done.

I sat in my room for a few hours, staring at the unpacked trunk at the end of my bed. A thought entered my mind and I slowly walked over to the dresser in my room, pulling out my wallet, the one containing my muggle money. I cracked my door open just wide enough to let the sound filter in. Remus had given me an idea, even if he hadn't meant to.

The sounds of merriment came from the kitchen downstairs. I closed the door again, shrunk everything I would need for the rest of break, and shoved them in my pocket, slipping on my boots as I did. I snuck down the stairs, avoiding all the creaky boards on the way. I passed by Mrs. Black's portrait, which opened its mouth to start yelling.

"If you make a sound I will never leave, and I will bring out the turpentine." She shut her mouth and I nodded, slipping into my jacket and going out the front door. I walked down the street, the opposite direction of the kitchen window, for a few blocks. I wondered how long it would take for anybody to notice I was gone; if anyone other than Remus would care. I summoned the Knight Bus and gave the address of a hotel in muggle London. I knew they would let me have a room, if only because of my last name. My family had held more than a few parties in their ballroom over the years.

I got to my newly rented room and set up for the rest of break. I'd left a note for whoever found out I was missing that apologized to Molly, told Remus not to worry, and asked that nobody come looking for me. I told them I would send a patronus every day to let them know I was safe. I _didn't_ tell them where I was going.

I received a howler from Remus the next day about running off on my own in a time of war, I sent back a silent patronus. I continued to do so every day for the rest of the week and arrived early, by cab, for the train. I got in my compartment and changed into my robes before anyone had arrived. I could've taken the Knight Bus to the station, but I knew the Order would have someone on the bus in case I showed my face. I also knew that the Weasley's were taking the train back this time and the twins would worry if I wasn't onboard.

I was sitting silently for maybe twenty minutes before the first arrival came through the wall. Unfortunately, this arrival was one that was typically much later. Remus barged through the barrier with anger etched on his face, Sirius in dog form behind him. The twins came through next, talking quietly and glancing at the train with slightly worry. The rest of the Weasleys heading off to Hogwarts, including Harry and Hermione, came through next. None of them looked happy to be here this early. Remus stared at the train for a few moments before looking to the twins for information.

"Where does she usually sit?" He asked, his voice carefully controlled, but carrying in the otherwise empty station. The twins winced and stayed silent. They were loyal if nothing else, sometimes to a fault. I appreciated that about them.

"Well, Remus, we would tell you, really we would, but she…"

"She would kill us. _Literally_ kill us."

"Fine," He growled as he waved Sirius onto the train ahead of him to sniff me out. The twins shot an apologetic glance to my carriage before turning to say goodbye to their mother. Remus barged though the door moments later, Sirius trotting in and changing back to human form before both sat across from me. I stared at the two of them, fear present in my mind, but no sign of it anywhere else.

" _What_ were you thinking?" Remus hissed though gritted teeth.

"You know what I was thinking. I was fairly transparent in my wishes when we talked. It was only my intentions that changed." I told him in a carefully controlled voice. One that I had never used with him before, but made plenty of appearances in the dungeons of Hogwarts.

"I think he means to ask, what the hell is _wrong with you_?"

"Do you have any idea what could've happened? Do you have no self-preservation instincts? I thought you were supposed to be the _superior Slytherin_ , the good one that actually _listened_ to people when they talk. Instead you ignore everything and go off on your own? You must have a death wish!" Remus was yelling now. I refused to bow my head in submission. I refused to cry. Remus never yelled. He hadn't since I had cheated in that duel. That had led to three weeks of silence in our house. I opened my mouth to apologize, but Sirius had started yelling before I could say anything.

"Not to mention I never got to talk to you about your little stunt before you left! That information was not yours to divulge! I thought I could trust you, you promised you would keep quiet about everything, but the second things get emotionally charged you yell my biggest secret and insecurity to a bunch of people? What the hell!

"I have no idea why I trusted you in the first place, I don't even want to know what would've happened if it was Remus fighting with someone in public!" The accusation stung, and my chin dropped slightly. Sirius was done, settling to just glare at me. His barb hadn't stung, it lodged in too deep to be removed. I saw someone enter the platform from the corner of my eyes, they seemed to realize it too. I looked over and saw it was Blaise. That was certainly interesting, he was never early.

"When I agreed to adopt you, you told me you would do your best to follow any rules I set. You broke that promise and at least _five_ of my rules. Don't bother coming home if you plan to break any more of them, after all, if one of us breaks a promise the return is rendered mute, right?" Both men left the carriage and the train and then the platform. Only once they were gone did I let my tears fall. Remus had technically adopted me in the muggle world, but that wasn't as true for the magical world. Seeing as that was the case, he was within his rights to not offer me lodging this summer or any of the coming holidays.

The twins entered the compartment about ten minutes after I had managed to compose myself again. My eyes were still red, and they seemed to realize that I had been crying. They decided the best course of action was to make me feel better. They told me about the better parts of the week, about the products they had come up with, and some of the ones they managed to improve over the break.

"Well, it sounds like the plan is developing well." I smiled, referring to the plan we had come up with to get the shop up and running. I still felt terrible, but it was a little better with them around.

"About that…"

"We might be pushing it forward a few months."

"Fred and I think we've outgrown formal education. We don't need our NEWTs and we've just about all we can get from Hogwarts. We have no reason to stay."

"We are leaving on the 19th." My heart broke slightly at that. They were leaving me too. I would have no allies at school or at home, if Remus took me back and if Sirius let him that is.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?" I asked, it wasn't that I doubted their abilities, and they seemed to know that as well, but it was more about if they were prepared for it.

"Yeah, we even managed to get a place for the shop! It has an apartment above it, so we can live in it. We showed Angelina and Katie the place a few days ago!"

"The two of them are going to come stay with us for most of the summer. Though we may be a little cramped. Only two bedrooms you see." Fred wiggled his eyebrows. Instead of the laughter they were expecting, I met them with a closed off expression.

"Lils? Why aren't you happy? This is the _dream_."

"I know I just… I don't…"

"Come on Lils, it's simple. You're either happy for us or not. You either want us to go and open the shop and be happy, or you want us to stay at Hogwarts and be miserable. Which is it, you need to choose?" Fred stated.

"At the moment the choice is simple. I need you here. With me." Both twins frowned and glanced at each other. They rose as one and left the compartment.

More tears spilled form my eyes, which I quickly swiped away when the door opened again and Blaise entered. He took one look at me and sat on the bench across from me.

"Everything okay?" He asked after giving me a few moments to collect myself.

"I'm fine, I think…" He gave me a very disbelieving look and I almost laughed at it.

"You're crying. I have never once seen or heard about you crying."

"I may have done something stupid… or a few stupid things…" He inspected me for a few moments before removing his wand from his sleeve. He cast a few spells that I recognized as wards at the door and looked at me in question.

"Quid pro quo?" He asked. I smiled slightly and nodded. We both cast wand oaths of silence and I told him everything that had happened since we last talked to each other. He was silent for a few moments.

"So, what's the prognosis? Homeless and alone or alone and homeless?" I asked with a frown. He returned the expression.

"Neither. From what I can tell based on everything, Remus was worried and Sirius was upset and probably worried as well. I think, given time to cool off, they would forgive you and greatly regret what they said. As for the twins… well, they just seemed to think you were going back on your words. They were probably hurt. I mean, from what you told me you are the only one that believes in them and you basically told them that they shouldn't go for it."

"But that wasn't what I meant. I have nobody without them. Harry is so unpredictable I can never tell if he's going to insult me or ask for my help. I can't be seen with Hermione without drawing tons of attention to myself, and Ronald and Ginny hate my guts because I'm a Slytherin. The only other friend I've really made is Luna and she hangs out with Ginny all the time."

"That's not true. You have me."

"Not really. I mean sure, but also not really."

"Well, I guess it's my turn to explain some things…" He paused and looked at me for a few moments. "I won't be able to go home again. All of my things and my savings are in my trunk. I've been staying at the Leaky for the past few days. I haven't been disowned, but I made it clear that I would not be getting marked this summer or ever. My parents probably think that they can change my mind and that is about the only reason I haven't already been disowned. As soon as the others find out I'm separated from my family, they will be treating me like they do you. Even if they don't exactly know the reason why." I looked at him for a few moments of silence.

"I might have an idea for that…"

"Go on…"

"I'm assuming you're worried that they will insight the old familiar magic, correct?"

"Yeah, or the imperious."

"Well, I can teach you how to throw the imperious and I might have a way around the familiar magic. You would need to think on it of course, but it might be beneficial."

"Tell me."

"Well, first, as far as the housing issue goes, you can stay in my old house. I haven't sold it yet, but you would be in muggle London so be prepared for that."

"That's better than the Leaky, so if you're certain, I would love to."

"Good, I can bring you with me at the beginning of summer. For the family magic… well it won't work if you aren't part of their family."

"Are you saying I should… what? Blast myself off the tree?"

"No, and you don't need to renounce either. I'm thinking a blood adoption. It wouldn't be something they can trace and you would still be Blaise Zabini, but you wouldn't be subjected to their magics."

"And who were you thinking for the new familia?"

"How about the Moon family?" He seemed shocked but overall accepting of the idea. The blood adoption wouldn't force him out of his inheritance, but it would mean he wouldn't be just a Zabini anymore either. I wouldn't be just a Moon either, the adoption went both ways.

"Do you know the ritual for it? I've read about it, but I glanced over the 'how to' for lack of a reason to read it." I nodded and gestured to my trunk. He stood and dragged it down from the rack overhead. I opened it and dug around for a few moments before pulling out the book I needed and handed it over to him.

"I think it's on page 45." He nodded and flipped through until he found it. He spent a few minutes reading it over before sitting back and closing his eyes. I stayed silent as he thought through his options. When he looked at me again he inspected me for a few moments before nodding slowly.

"Okay, let's do this. I will be your… older? Younger? brother."

"Older, I have a late birthday." He nodded and read over the passage one more time, this time making a mental list of everything we would need.

"I think we can get all of this from the mail order apothecary."

"I actually already have some of it." He looked at me in surprise. "I work with the twins on their projects. I have pretty much everything I would need. With the exception of the ritual stones that is. I've never done a ritual."

"I can get them, I have a family friend that can send them to me. I'll have them by Monday if I send a letter when we get back to school."

"It says we need to do it under a half moon. The next one is on the 22nd, Thursday. If you're certain about this we can do it then in the Astronomy Tower."

"Sounds good. And with the twins leaving on Monday, I doubt Umbridge will notice me getting the package in the post." I nodded, "Are you sure _you_ want to do this?" I nodded in confirmation. "In that case, I think it would be safe for me to start spending time with you in public starting now."

"Wait, what? Are you sure? That will just make things worse for you."

"I'm aware, and I don't care. It's time I started letting people know what side of this war I support." I gave a slight smile at that. Blaise wasn't the twins, but he was a good friend, soon to be brother, and he made for good company.

When the two of us walked into the Great Hall for dinner that night with smiles on our faces as we discussed Ancient Runes, we received more than a few glares from the Slytherin table and I got a look from the twins. It wasn't a bad look, more curious. I'd told them about Blaise and I's conversation after Hogsmeade, but they weren't expecting to see the two of us together in public. I made a hand motion telling them to meet me in the classroom later.

When we met I would explain everything to them. Including what Blaise and I were planning on doing and offering my apologies for making it seem like I didn't support their decision.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	28. Year 5: Part VII

Career counseling. It was a little early for that wasn't it? I knew you were finished school at 17 in the wizarding world, but 15 far too early to decide what you wanted to do for the rest of your unnaturally long life. Not to mention Umbridge and Dumbledore were choosing to sit in on random sessions. I entered Snape's office at my appointed time and glanced to the corner where, sure enough, the toad fairy sat with a serene smile on her pudgy little face.

"Hello Miss. Moon. I hope you don't mind me sitting in on your session. I am rather curious about you." I showed none of my panic, confusion, or distaste on my face when offering her a slight nod. I offered the same to Snape before sitting in the chair he indicated.

"Professor Umbridge. Professor Snape." I greeted politely. Snape returned the greeting, Umbitch looked at me quizzically. Not well versed in etiquette then.

"Miss. Moon, do you have any idea what career you wish to pursue after you graduate?"

"Not particularly." Umbrige was looking slightly red now.

"Is there any subject that you favor over the others?" Defense was on the tip of my tongue. I refrained though, seeing as Umbridge was only giving me an A in the course.

"I am quite good with Ancient Runes I suppose." That was one of the few safe subjects to mention in front of the toad. She had no reason to dislike the teacher outright, the subject matter wasn't something controversial, and my mark was the second highest in the class. Snape nodded, glancing at my class marks and course schedule.

"Perhaps a focus in that then." As a supposed pureblood female, I wasn't expected to work after I graduated. I didn't need to either, not unless I wanted to. Much like many of the other purebloods.

"I haven't put much thought into working after graduation. Though, if I must, a career in Ancient Runes would be agreeable." I wasn't lying exactly. I hadn't thought much about what I wanted to do with my life, aside from live and work with the twins.

"In that case you will need to focus on courses such as Charms, Arithmancy, and Potions. We will meet again at the beginning of next year to go over what is available to you based on your OWL scores." I nodded and stood to leave the room, hearing the dismissal in his tone and recognizing it in his words. Umbridge looked disappointed that I hadn't given her anything against me.

I wandered towards the Great Hall, Umbridge's heels clicking down the cobblestone behind me. I rolled my eyes internally. She followed me until we reached the commotion in the hall that was the twins.

It all happened so quickly. One second Umbridge was yelling at them for setting off a swamp in the halls and the next they were on brooms, announcing they were dropping out and to come visit them at their shop in Diagon Ally. I saw Lee frowning and Katie and Angelina crying slightly. I almost felt bad, but then the sadness that went hand and hand with my closest… well, everything, leaving hit me and I walked away from the scene before the firework show had even concluded. Blaise would be up in the owlery collecting the package containing the ritual stones and I thought to go meet him.

I spotted Flitwick staring at and testing the magic on the swamp. His eyebrows were high in surprise and his eyes alight with delight at the spell work. He seemed to be slightly confused about it too.

I walked past him when he suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and looked over to me with a little surprise on his face. Malfoy walked out of the crowd and stormed past me with his cronies, complaining loudly about the twins. I glared at his back, forgetting myself for only a moment. My hand twitched for a wand, but I, only just, refrained from grabbing it. Instead I resorted to childish tactic and made a face behind his back. After Malfoy turned the corner I sorted my face into its emotionless mask and glanced behind me at the swamp where a toad sat on a lily pad in the center, seeming to have trouble staying on.

"Miss. Moon."

"Professor Flitwick." I turned to the professor, who I now realized had seen my juvenile act. He was smiling a little, though still obviously confused.

"A brilliant bit of magic, this swamp, don't you think?" Something about the look in his eyes gave me pause before I answered.

"Yes, it is rather ingenious." I responded with a healthy dose of skepticism, as was expected of a Slytherin.

"Although, I do find it quite odd that there is a toad on a lily pad in the center. Especially since the water lily represents peace and calmness, not exactly something the twins are known for."

"Perhaps they simply wanted somewhere to put a toad?"

"It is also seen as something delicate looking, but deceptively strong." He continued, not paying any mind to my comment. "Considering that, I find it odd how the toad is barely able to stay on top of the fauna. It's almost as if the lily is allowing it to do so under its own volition and for its own personal reasons. Although, it does look as if it's about to break." He was looking at me rather than the swamp now, but he still kept his voice down.

"I don't know, that one's a little… advanced for the twins, is it not? To put that much consciousness in a bit of fauna?"

"Indeed, it may be. You know… there are many different symbolism's that the water lily holds. For example, some say it's to represent life and love, others say beauty, a few say unity, even fewer say rebirth, I've even heard it said that lilies are seen as a symbol for powerful magic, but one thing it always has in common is that it is viewed in a positive light."

"Yes, I have heard of that."

"Of course, you would. It is your name after all." With a small grin on his face he turned to walk away. He was almost out of the hall before he removed his wand and cast a spell that I recognized. It was an eraser for magical signatures. He winked at me before turning the corner. I looked at the swamp, and then to the lily pad that precariously held the toad above water. I smiled slightly before turning into a secret passage and making my way to the dungeons. I had some studying to do for OWLs. I could meet with Blaise later.

On the 22nd Blaise and I snuck out of the common room at midnight to do our ritual. We were making our way toward the Astronomy tower when I heard a noise coming form that direction. I grabbed Blaise by the arm and led him to the center atrium of the castle instead. We began set everything up in one of the shadowed corners.

A small ring was made from the ten ritual stones. We had painted the runes we needed for the bond on them together the night before. In between each stone was a candle that we would light when we were ready to begin. A bowl I had fetched from the kitchens was placed in the center of the ring and the other ingredients were laid out beside us. All the things we needed were either spices or flowers. We sat opposite each other on either side of the ring and began.

We each placed our wands over the bowl in the center and chanted the passage we had memorized from the book. After doing so we placed the wands on the ground next to us for later. I went first, placing petals from peonies, gardenias, and Queen Anne's lace in the bowl before allowing Blaise to pour salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger into the bowl as well. I poured in the strengthening potion that we had made on Wednesday into the mix and we each took our wands to chant the next passage.

After finishing the chant, I took the ceremonial dagger that Blaise had brought and made a slice on the back of my hand and allowed four drops to fall into the mixture. Blaise did the same and we chanted one final time. For the final step of the ritual we both had to drink half of the mixture. I went first as I had with the rest of the ritual and Blaise finished it off. As soon as he had we joined hands over the center of the ring and a wave of magic passed through us, telling us the ritual had been successful. I was glad for it.

I sat in the classroom where I was supposed to be doing my History of Magic OWL. I was already mostly done, but the scene from yesterday kept replaying through my mind. That bitch had gone and stunned McGonagall into St. Mungos. I respected, and even liked, McGonagall. She was fair and took no shit from anyone. She also stood for what she thought was right no matter what opposition stood in her way. To see her be taken down like that irked me. It had clearly unsettled the Gryffindors, all of which were walking around like Umbridge had won the war. It was pathetic.

I finished the last question on my exam just as Harry fell out of his seat a little ways down the aisle from me. The proctor stood to address the situation just as I was about to stand and pass my exam in. Hermione was already at his side trying to get him to come to. He was out of it and seemed to be convulsing. It was one of his visions by the looks of it. Suddenly, he went still before shooting up and looking around frantically. The proctor requested Hermione bring him to the Hospital wing and ordered the rest of us to get back to our exams. I walked calmly to hand mine in before sauntering out of the class, giving Blaise a look on my way past. He gave me an annoyed look and I almost laughed, he was probably jealous. His curiosity matched mine most of the time.

I glanced around for the duo once I had exited the hall. The chances of them going to the hospital wing were slim. I looked around the castle for a while, but I couldn't find them anywhere. I continued to search for them until I had to go to the kitchens to deliver my final session with the young elves, as promised at the beginning of the year.

Hours later I was on my way down to the Slytherin common room to meet Blaise when Draco walked up to me with an interesting look on his face. He grabbed my arm and began to drag me towards the defense corridor.

"Hey, let me go you heathen!" I saw Snape up ahead, he turned to see Draco dragging me along in his direction and raised a brow.

"What is the meaning of this Draco?" He asked once we had reached him, and subsequently, the toad's office.

"Umbridge requested that I fetch her. The members of that defense club claimed she was one of them even though her name isn't on the list." Oh… this wasn't good. My name wasn't on the list, but Snape was here and that was sure to mean that Umbridge was requesting a potion, probably veritaserum. I would never be able to lie under its effects. I was doomed. Snape simply opened the door and allowed us entrance, the traitor.

"If you wanted me to follow you, you should have asked. There was no need to act like a heathen and drag me here without explanation." I looked at Draco with a neutral expression and he swallowed noticeably under my look before releasing my arm. I smoothed out my shirt and stood tall in front of the other members of the DA. They had really rounded them all up. Harry was pinned to the chair in the center, held in place by Crabbe and Goyle as Umbridge stood in front of him with a maniacal smile.

"Ah, Severus. Good you're here. Now we can get started. Do you have the veritaserum I requested?" Before Snape could utter a word, Harry began yelling.

"He's got Padfoot in the place where it's hidden!" Snape looked at Harry in disdain, and I looked at him in confusion, inside my brain was working a mile a second. He's got Sirius? Who has Sirius? Where was the place where it's hidden? What the hell? Was Harry an idiot?

"What does that mean? What's he talking about?" Umbridge asked Snape.

"I have no idea what Potter is blathering about. However, I do not have the potion. You used the last of my stores on Miss. Chang and Miss. Edgecomb." I rolled my eyes. Of course. Snape turned and left, likely to speak with the rest of the Order. Now that I'd worked out what Harry meant, I was a little worried and a lot mad.

"Excuse me Professor? I hate to interrupt, but what am I doing here? I'm not a part of the inquisitorial squad." Confusion was heavy in my voice as well as respect for the toad.

"Yes, well, Mr. Smith has informed me of your participation in this so-called Dumbledore's Army."

"What's Dumbledore's Army?" I asked, my eyes wide in confusion and innocence. I scrunched up my face in distaste at the name, which was not acting.

"It's the defense group."

"Oh… there was a defense group?" Sometimes playing dumb worked out in my favor.

"Hmm… I was rather surprised when Smith suggested that you were a part of the group. Your name isn't on the register. Though he explained that you owed Miss. Granger a favor and that you refused to sign. He also stated that you were in league with the house elves, and that you even taught one of the lessons before Christmas."

"The house elves? Why would I sully myself with them? Also, I think we both know that I would never be able to teach a defense class. You do teach me, you know of my grades in that course. I wouldn't be capable, I'm in the bottom 15 percentile! I've barely even spoken to Granger before. Only once or twice in the library while studying. I don't think I've ever had a proper conversation with Potter either for that matter."

"Oh, really? Then why was Smith so adamant?" I furrowed my brows in thought for a moment. I needed something good.

"It might have to do with me turning him down for a date a few months ago. I'm afraid I was rather harsh when denying him. I had just gotten back a rather disappointing mark in your class." Smith opened his mouth, set to protest, but Umbridge spoke before he could.

"Well, in that case you are free to go Miss. Moon. I will be sure to add to Smith's punishment for lying and attempting to incriminate another student." She gave me a sickly sweet smile and returned with one of my own.

"Thank you Professor Umbridge, I greatly appreciate your understanding and wish you hadn't needed to waste your time." I turned and left the room, giving only a quick glance to my stunned audience. Malfoy looked a little confused, he'd seen me leaving the kitchens a few times, and he had picked me up near them tonight as well. He wouldn't dare say anything though. Not after the issue was dismissed. As I turned to shut the door I caught Smith's eyes and glared at him. I heard the word cruciatus and decided time was of the essence. Sirius and the place where it was hidden…

Was he really talking about the prophecy hall at the Ministry? He didn't know about the prophecy though, Hermione would've mentioned it. Unless he had heard about it after the break. This was too much and there was nothing I could do for them now anyway. It was their own fault for writing down everyone's names. I decided to go to feed the thestrals instead of to my dorm as I'd originally planned. Blaise would understand once I explained things.

I went to the entrance hall and called for Barney to bring me some raw meat for the beasts. I quickly hid behind a pillar when I heard someone coming. Harry, Hermione, and Umbridge were walking out of the castle.

Why would they be… Grawp! Hermione was a genius, and a terrifying force when Harry was threatened. She was using Hagrid's half giant brother as a diversion. I had met him on accident a few nights ago while on a midnight walk. Hagrid had introduced us. He had also told me that Grawp was going to be moved somewhere more secure the next day. Hermione didn't know that though.

When Barney reappeared with a satchel of meat I thanked him and ran to the edge of the forest. I knew my way better than they did, I had time to come up with a plan and execute it before Hermione found herself in trouble.

The thestrals would be of no help, but the satchel of meat gave me an idea. I looked inside the bag and saw that Barney had put a few other items in it, as he always did when I was going into the forest. They would work perfectly. I pushed myself to my limit as I ran to the centaur camp, arriving to a row of surprised guards. I was out of breath and panting but I managed a decent bow and a request to speak to their tribe master immediately.

One ran off to get Bane while the other three kept their bows aimed in my general direction. None of them were aimed at me, confirming my suspicion that they had been ordered not to hurt me. I had never met any of the four that were on guard that night. More than likely they had been in training for the last few years or living at a secondary camp or herd. Bane arrived soon after, his second in command following and looking curious.

"Herd leader Bane." I bowed over my own hand, still panting. He looked, dare I say, concerned for me.

"Lily Moon." The guards all seemed to freeze at my name. They'd obviously heard it before.

"I bring with me an offering, a request, and some information." Bane looked to his second before waving me to follow him. We went to his hut on the edge of camp.

"Proceed." I shoved my hand into the satchel, ignoring the slimy feeling of the meat and pulling out a blood covered plastic bag. I held it out to him, not paying any mind to the fact that the blood covered the contents of the bag entirely. He looked at it with skepticism but took the bag. His second rolled his eyes in disapproval. I'd never seen him before. It was likely that his herd had merged with the Hogwarts one after being depleted. Bane opened the bag and glanced inside. He was careful to keep his hands as clean as possible. When he saw what the bag contained he passed it off to his second.

"Bring this to the med tent please. These potions may come in handy one day." Bane looked me in the eyes, I had given him all the potions that would've saved Ronan had the camp had them. "I'm listening."

"Good, because we don't have much time. I'm sure you are aware of the prophecy about Harry Potter."

"Yes,"

"He's going to go to the Ministry tonight to hear it for the first time. He doesn't know that the prophecy exists."

"I don't see how this is information."

"It's not. I said an offering, a request, and then information. I plan to give it in that order. The request is time sensitive."

"Continue,"

"In order to get to the Ministry, he needs to get out of the castle, and, idiot boy that he is, he's been waylaid by Umbridge. He is under the impression that Voldy has Sirius in the prophecy room at the Ministry. He has a connection with the guy and has been getting visions all year. Whether it is true or not remains to be seen. However, I know I can't stop him."

"How is this a request to me?"

"Hermione Granger was introduced to Hagrid's half brother. I saw her leading Harry and Umbridge in the direction of the forest. I think she is hoping to use Grawp as a distraction. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that Hagrid had him moved to a different part of the forest a few days ago. If there is nobody there to take Umbridge from the picture, the prophecy won't be heard by Harry for a very long time. Especially long when you remember that he doesn't know it exists because of Dumbledore. I think my request here is fairly obvious."

"I will send out men at once under the assumption that you will give me the information before leaving to aid him in his endeavor." I nodded and watched as he left the tent to send a group to the clearing. I heard hooves beat in the direction of the clearing and then Bane re entered his hut.

"My information is in accordance to Firenze."

"Go ahead…" Bane seemed hesitant and his eyes showed the familiar shine of guilt.

"He really misses you and the rest of the herd. He won't even talk to me. It doesn't help that Umbridge repeatedly calls him a dirty half-breed." I stopped talking, though Bane seemed to be waiting for more.

"That's it? You said you had information!"

"I did. I never said I had good or plentiful information. You've fallen into the pit of words again Bane. Perhaps if you hadn't kicked me from your family though a courier, I might have been slightly less deceiving. Now, I will be off. I need to feed the thestrals and I believe my business here is done. I thank your herd for the aid and wish you many happy moons."

"Who do you think you are?" He asked in anger. I turned to face him once more. I allowed my mask to fall and show all the sadness and regret I was feeling from the ordeals I had gone through this year. With Harry, the Weasley's, the twins, Remus, Sirius, Hermione, and the man in front of me. It also showed the determination and the loyalty. He gasped slightly. It was a sight to behold, me without the blank face.

"I'm nothing. I was always nothing. However, if, for one night, I can be more than nothing. If, for one night, I can help the people I've aligned myself with even though they don't like me in the slightest? You can be sure that I won't be nothing on that night. I will be the nuclear powerhouse behind them, blowing up everything that stands in my way. I will be strong despite my fears and I will show a gleeful front even through my sadness, just to throw the bastards off. If that includes you, I will not hesitate. My family and my allies are those that stand by my side in the end, no matter how bumpy the road there has been."

"Those are brave words for a child with no means to back them." Bane said with a hint of understanding.

"Someone once told me to never lose the bravery that led me to befriend the creatures of this forest. He made me promise him on his death bed. I keep my promises with only one exception. That one exception appears to have lost me the only proper guardianship I've ever known. So, forgive me if I decide to not break any more."

"That is very noble of you. Though surprising as you have always been the merciful type."

"Mercy may be a pretty thing, but it rarely produces results. I also don't offer my mercy freely. You should be thankful that I've granted it to you and yours," I paused to evaluate the man in front of me, "It is my destiny to do this." I finished before walking from the hut. He did not stop me, his head was bowed, remembering his fallen brother.

"Destiny does not make life. Life makes destiny." I heard him mutter behind me. I smiled slightly as I exited the camp and made for the thestral clearing. My mask was returning to me, one small stone this time. It was harder to put together today, but I would manage it. I stood by the gathered creatures and waited for Luna to arrive with the others in tow. They needed a way to the Ministry and Luna was just the right side of insane to offer these creatures as a method, but she was also just forgetful enough to forget to bring the meat. Considering this, I held onto the satchel and simply let the beasts gather in wait for the food they knew was coming.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I actually researched the meanings for all of he spices and flowers mentioned. Hope you're liking it so far.**


	29. Year 5: Part VIII

The group, led by Luna, entered the clearing less than half an hour later. I was surprised at the number and contents of the group. Ginny, Neville, Ronald, and Luna joined Hermione and Harry. I nodded to them when they appeared. I looked to around and watched the four adult thestrals that stood with their children. They were still nuzzling closer to me, but they seemed aware of the new additions.

"What is she doing here?" Ginny asked with a sneer. I looked at her and she cowered. With a roll of the eyes I looked to Harry and Hermione.

"Off to the Ministry then?"

"How did you know that?"

"Oh please. _They have Padfoot in the room where it's hidden_? They, apparently, have Sirius in the Prophecy Hall in the Department of Mysteries. Although, I can't help but remind you that this is likely a trap and that we will likely be ambushed the second we get there. Also, we should really be telling other Order members not going ourselves since none of you are ready for that level of combat. Also, if we are going without telling anyone, we should bring more people for back-up. Like Blaise."

"You say _we_ like you're coming." Neville commented, not harshly, which was nice for a change, "I thought you weren't part of the DA, what with your terrible marks in defense." There it was.

"I'm a Slytherin and have been lying to my housemates for the past 5 years and my family even longer. You really think I can't come up with believable lies on the fly when ambushed? I mean I told Hermione I could take on Dumbledore no problem and that I was way powerful, and she _believed_ me. Of course I'm coming. Just because Sirius and Remus all but disowned me after Easter doesn't mean I don't still feel the need to help them should they be in danger."

"They disowned you?" Hermione asked in surprise. I guess they hadn't mentioned this in their letters. And yes, I knew they were still sending letters to Harry even though they'd stopped sending them to me.

"Wait, why were they your guardians? And how do you know about all of this stuff in the first place?" Neville asked, finally cluing in that something was off.

"What do you mean _Prophecy Hall_?" Harry inquired.

"I would like to know why they disowned you." Firenze stated as he emerged from the trees behind the other students. All of them tensed in anticipation to be sent back to the castle.

"That would be my question as well." Bane stated, emerging from the trees behind me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, they disowned me, Hermione. I left the Order Headquarters to be on my own in a muggle hotel over Easter break, essentially breaking a promise I made to Remus when he adopted me that I would follow his rules. Sirius was angry because I broke a promise to keep quite about his problems with his time in Azkaban. Yes, they were my guardians, or at least Remus was. I know because of them being my guardians and wanting me safe and informed, Neville. And Harry, are you _dense_? What do you think those orbs even are? Now I think we should get going."

"How, we have no way to get there." Ronald stated, showing his idiocy, "Other than one of Luna's mythical creatures that is." I glared at the boy and reached into my bag. I pulled out a bloody slab of meat and threw it in the air. I watched him blanch as he heard the horse-like-creatures screech and snatch it from the air, playing tug of war with it.

"Mythical, you say? Obviously you've never seen anyone die. Get in groups of two. Luna and Hermione, Harry and Ronald, Neville and Ginny. I'm assuming you can see them, Neville, based on your caution when you entered the clearing and the continuous glances at them. I'll ride on my own."

"Just what are you planning on doing once you get to the Ministry, Lily? You've only been once, you don't know your way around." Bane pointed out. Sometimes I hated that centaurs are basically all knowing.

"Well, Bane, I was planning on following the signs on the walls to get to where I need to go. Besides, I always end up where I need to be in the end." I told him with a look. He nodded in disgruntled agreement.

"I really shouldn't be allowing you all to leave the castle grounds." Firenze pointed out with a slight sigh. I watched the others mount their beasts and walked over to the only remaining one, a slab of meat in hand as an offering.

"It's destiny that we go." I stated with a smile as I mounted.

" _Destiny_ is not set in stone." He replied with a look. Bane rolled his eyes at my words.

"Neither are the rules." I grinned and spurred my thestral on, taking to the sky with a scream of joy. I heard the three other sets of wings behind me and Hermione's little shriek of terror. I also heard Firenze let out a chuckle.

"Anybody know how to get to the Ministry from here?" Luna asked, her dreamy voice floating through the clouds. Harry yelled out that we just needed to get to Hogsmeade and find a floo. I rolled my eyes. The boy _was_ an idiot. We could have walked if that was the case.

"Follow me!" I flew in the opposite direction. Only Luna and Hermione followed me. Neville went with Harry in the direction of Hogsmeade. "It's not far from here. We'll probably get there before them."

When we arrived at the wizard side's front entrance, we dismounted the beasts and Luna and I watched as they flew back to Hogwarts. The three of us entered the building and crept in the indicated directions for the floo arrivals. We waited in an alcove for ten minutes before the first floo activation sounded. Soon enough the two Weasleys, Harry, and Neville exited the floo hallway and stopped short at seeing us. They looked surprised to see us.

I walked away without a word and the others followed, making quiet conversation. As we approached the entrance to the Department of Mysteries, I stopped short. The others stopped as well.

"Why did you stop? The door is open, let's go." Harry and Ronald led the others inside, but Luna and I stayed back.

"If the door is open, we're not the first ones here." I stated calmly, only Luna heard me.

"Well, Harry did say they had Sirius here didn't he?" She asked. A rational explanation, but not a plausible one.

"If they were torturing him inside, like he seems to think they are…"

"They wouldn't have left the door opened." She finished, a light of understanding in her normally cloudy eyes.

"Keep everything I taught you about dueling in mind and stay close to me." Luna nodded, and I was about to enter when she stopped me.

"If you want to keep your charade, you are going to need a disguise." She pulled her wand and aimed it at my face. I felt my hair shorten to a bob and saw a few strands change to a color that matched hers. The younger girl muttered a spell that changes eye color and skin tone. When I looked down I was more of an olive tone. My body type didn't change, thank god since that may cause me to under or over correct when dueling. My face felt fuller though, and I knew my eyes weren't blue anymore.

"Thank you, Luna." My voice sounded slightly different as well. Closer to Hermione's tone than mine. I looked down at my school uniform and changed the colors of my robe to a cheery yellow. Nobody would question a Hufflepuff with Harry Potter, but a Slytherin would give everyone pause. We walked into the room where the others stood, staring at the doors along the wall in confusion. They searched for the right one after giving me an odd look. Once they found the right room we walked in.

"This is it, this is where Sirius was." I looked around in doubt. The end of the aisle had 'Po-Pu' on it.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I don't think he's here." Hermione stated as we walked down the aisle. Ronald was up ahead looking at the prophecies.

"Hey Harry, this one has your name on it." Harry walked forward and was about to take it when I heard Hermione make a noise. He rushed to stand in the front of the pack, our wands were all lit, being the only light in the room, but they caught the silver of the Death Eater's mask. This wasn't good. I slowly formed everyone into a circle as more Death Eaters surrounded us in the break between the aisles. When Harry began talking to Lucius Malfoy, I grabbed Luna's hand.

Harry motioned to the shelves around us as the Death Eaters closed in. When Harry yelled everyone shot a reducto curse at the shelves, bringing them crashing down. I grabbed the hands of the two people closest to me and dragged them along as I ran for a door I saw at the end of the corridor. We left the room followed by a few masked Death Eaters. As we entered the space room a spell hit Ginny, causing her to fall. A crack from her ankle and the scream of pain she let out told me it was likely broken. A spell hit Ronald as well, causing him to go sort of spacey, if you'll excuse the pun.

I helped Ginny stand as I shot multiple spells at the two Death Eaters that had followed us into the room. Luna cast a reducto at the model of Pluto, causing the pieces to distract the adults long enough for me to stun them. She then helped Ronald to walk in my direction.

We dragged the siblings to the door at the other side of the room, bringing us into the brain room. We raced through it and ended up in the entry room with the doors, meeting up with the other three teens again. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters following them were there as well. Hermione took Ronald from Luna, being the stronger of the two girls, and we re entered the brain room in an attempt to escape. Neville, Harry, and Luna tried to seal the room, but the Death Eaters still managed to get in with a well-timed spell on Bellatrix's part.

A stunner hit Luna full force, sending her back into a desk and taking her out of the battle entirely. Ronald, in his confused state, summoned one of the brains to him. It attempted to strangle him immediately. Harry tried using a severing spell on the brain just as a stunner hit Ginny in the face, forcing her out of the battle as well.

Harry raced into the death chamber, luring the Death Eaters away from us like the stupid hero wannabe he was. It worked for the most part, as he brought the heavy hitters with him.

The remaining Death Eaters cornered us, blocking the doorways, and effectively trapping us in. I shot a few spells to help Neville get through to help Harry. A few moments later I heard the former's tortured screaming.

I shot more spells, but it was 8 on 2 by this point. There was no way to get out of it. The Death Eaters converged on us as Luna and Ginny came to again. Each adult captured one of the teens, bringing them into the death chamber, as some sort of incentive for Harry no doubt. I didn't let the remaining four 'bad guys' get close enough to grab me. Eventually they stopped sending spells and stared at me. I grinned at them.

"Stop fighting. You have no chance against us. You're trapped." I heard some very quiet taps coming from the door behind me. I smiled.

"None of you seem to understand. _I'm_ not locked in here with you. _You're_ locked in here with me." I raised my wand and stepped forward enough for the door to open behind me. Tonks burst through and began casting spells with my tactical support. We subdued the Death Eaters within moments. I turned to her with a grin and a high five. She returned both.

"Hey Lily."

"Hey Tonks."

"Shall we?" She indicated the death chamber where I heard fighting take place. We burst through the door and Tonks shot a stunner at Malfoy. Neville and Harry tried to escape, but Harry was grabbed by another death eater. Neville jabbed the half-wand he was holding into the eye hole of the mask, causing the death eater to release Harry.

Everything after that passed in a blur as I entered a fight with yet another cloaked figure. I held my own on the outskirts of the battle, keeping my back to a wall to protect myself from a surprise attack. Very few people fighting in the room seemed to notice I was actually there, so I used that to my advantage.

Just as I stunned the Death Eater I was fighting, I heard Remus order Harry to get everyone and get out. I stared at the room for a few moments in a trace listening to the angered yells of the Death Eaters being bested in battle more than seeing it.

Looking around the vast room, searching for the rest of the DA, I spotted the arch in the center. It gave me the chills and a feeling of terror settled in my stomach seeing that Sirius was standing _right next to it_.

I sunk further into the shadows of the room with suspicion, making my way closer to the archway. It was a good thing I did, because the next second Albus Dumbledore entered the chamber. Death Eaters tried to flee, but he didn't allow for it to happen. The only two that seemed to not realize his arrival were Sirius and Bellatrix, who were still battling it out in the center of the chamber.

Sirius ducked under a spell she shot and taunted her inability to hit him. I watched the fury on her face emerge as she fired another spell after taking a few steps to her right. With incredibly poor instinct I disillusioned myself and leapt from the shadows. I was a good dueler, but I was under no illusions that I could beat Bellatrix Lestrange. It was a stunner of some kind by the looks of things, but that wasn't my concern. The angle she shot it meant that, if hit, Sirius would be thrown into the veil. Just as the spell hit him and he began to topple into the mysterious veil, I jumped on and disillusioned him, sending us flying off the platform and to the ground behind it instead. Safely out of sight from anyone who was looking.

"Sirius!" I heard the tortured call come from Harry as I bit my tongue to stop the screech of agony from exiting my lips. Remus was holding him back and telling him there was nothing he could do for Sirius now. So, Remus knew what the arch was then?

I watched Harry chase Bellatrix out of the death chamber, Remus and Dumbledore following shortly after. It was a good thing too because the pain in my legs and ankles caused me to release the spell hiding the two of us.

The room was devoid of any Death Eaters at this point, luckily since my appearance illusions faded as well. Sirius was laying face-up under me and on top of my legs, causing even the slightest movement from either of us to send excruciating pain throughout my body.

Neville was being escorted by Tonks from the room as Kingsley ran from the room holding Hermione in his arms. Ginny was supported by Ronald, who seemed to be back to his normal brain function, and Moody. Luna was following them when she spotted me on the ground. She raced over with a clarity I'd never seen in her eyes.

"Lily! Are you… is he?"

"He's alive and crushing my legs." With much maneuvering and pain, she helped me move Sirius off my legs and helped me sit up.

"Your foot is facing the wrong way," she stated with wide eyes.

"Really? I hadn't noticed!" Normally I wouldn't snap at Luna like that, but the pain was getting to me, as well as the fear. My fading adreniline was only making things worse.

"I'm gonna go get Remus, I think I should go get Remus."

"You think?!" She ran from the room like a bat out of hell to get me help. She came back five minutes later with Remus and Tonks. Both were in shock to see Sirius laying next to me, but more so to see me. Remus because he hadn't known I was here, and Tonks because she hadn't seen me since she stunned Malfoy. They approached me quickly, Remus rushing to me and Tonks to Sirius. Luna sat next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing here?!" Remus asked as he knelt next to my legs to inspect them for injuries. Not that that was difficult.

"Oh, I heard they had some wonderful books in the Department of Mysteries. Thought I would take a peek and ran into the others. They looked like they needed help. Then I saved Black's life, you're welcome by the way, and he broke my legs on landing because _he_ is way heavier than he looks and I'm not as strong as _I_ look." He looked at me. "What do you think I'm doing here? Like I would let Harry drag Luna into a trap and not come to help."

"If you knew it was a trap, then why didn't you stop him?" Remus asked as he went back to inspecting my legs. There was a touch of anger in his voice and I decided I didn't like it.

"Have you ever tried to stop a boulder when it's rolling down a hill with five others? I imagine it's a bit like that to stop Harry and the other five once they have a plan. Though, if it helps, I may have managed to stop him from getting tortured by Umbridge. But now she is in the clutches of the centaur tribe so… win some and lose some I guess. Not that I'm all that shaken by the loss."

"Both your legs are broken."

"Still?! Thanks for the update, but I was really hoping you might fix them rather than state the obvious. How's Black doing?" Remus furrowed his brow in a sort of confusion, but let it go in favor of listening to the update on Sirius.

"He's alive. Just a variation of the stunning spell. It will last for a few days I think. We should get you both to Hogwarts or Mungo's."

"Hogwarts would be better. Dumbledore is negotiating the terms of Sirius' freedom with the Minister at the moment, what with Pettigrew being here tonight and all. Word won't get out until the morning though. Lily should never have left school grounds so she's going back as well." Tonks pulled out a portkey that Dumbledore apparently made to bring us into the infirmary at Hogwarts. We all took hold after Remus had cast a spell to hold my legs still during transit. I prepared myself for the pain anyway.

I sat in the hospital wing and was directed to a bed to wait until the matron could get to me. She was busy fussing over Hermione, though I understood once I saw the girl. Harry was slumped down by Ronald's bed, looking miserable. He kept glancing at his female friend with self-hatred in his eyes. When he looked over at us as I was carefully lowered onto the bed by Remus, not that the careful handling took any of the pain away, his eyes widened. He approached the bed next to mine, looking at his godfather in astonishment.

"You… you said he was gone." Harry mumbled to Remus, who had moved to stand beside him. Remus went to answer just as Snape swept into the room. He paused when he saw me, surprise flickering on his face.

"What are you doing here Miss. Moon?"

"I was walking down from the astronomy tower and tripped. Unfortunately, it was a rather far drop from the top of the moving staircases. I appear to have broken both my legs on impact. A shame really, especially since there appears to have been some kind of battle." Snape glared at me as he walked over to where Hermione was laying to help the matron in healing her.

"I thought he was gone. I, we both saw him fall through the veil. Then Luna came running into the main room telling me that not only was Lily present, she was injured and so was he." Harry looked at me and approached carefully, giving a glance at my legs, the damage still visible with the splint.

"I'm honestly surprised you're injured. For all your bragging at being a master duelist you still ended up in a debilitated state." He stated.

"Ooo big word. Hermione teach it to you?" When no response was forthcoming I decided to answer his unasked query. "I didn't get injured in a duel. I got injured because Black is heavier than he looks and I'm much more delicate than my manner may suggest when it comes to a heavy object landing on me with vast momentum."

"Explain."

"I saw that Sirius and Bellatrix were still dueling. Nobody seemed to notice where I was since I was blending with the shadows at the edge of the room. I disillusioned myself and approached the duel, keeping my eyes peeled for stray spells. When Bellatrix cast the spell, I recognized that it had to be a variation of a stunner and that the angle of casting would send Black into the veil, as Lupin called it." Remus looked at me with that same confusion as before. "I jumped at him as she was casting and disillusioning him as we fell. He looked like he went through the veil, but we went just to the left of the arch. My momentum from running at him caused us to both fly off the platform and land on the ground next to it. Because my legs were wrapped around him, when we landed all his weight landed on my knees down, breaking the bones in both calves and making my ankles break as well. Luckily, your anguished screaming drowned out my whimper of pain until everyone had left the room. Well, everyone but Luna."

"You broke both of you legs and ankles saving Sirius?" He asked in awe.

"Just because he doesn't think highly of me, doesn't mean he deserves to die. If that were the case everyone in this bloody world would be sentenced to death apart from Luna and the people who want my money."

"What?" Remus asked from the other side of Sirius' bed. I didn't repeat myself.

"Lupin! Get over here, we need another pair of hands!" Pomphrey yelled. Remus went reluctantly, and Harry sat next to me.

"I think highly of you. I think both Remus and Sirius do as well. I don't think they disowned you, you know? I think you misunderstood. They were both worried sick after you left during the holidays. Mad as well, but mostly just worried. If your patronus was even seconds late any day, they would go into a frenzy."

"Thank you for the sentiment, but their words on the train don't match what you say their actions were. Besides, you've never been the most observant."

"Can't you just accept that people like you for once?"

"I can. Fred and George both like me. They have since we met and, I assume, still do. Although I haven't talked to them much since they left because of the shop and Umbridge and the little tiff we had on the train. I also know that Luna likes me. Blaise does as well, or that sibling bond was a really bad idea."

"Fine, evade."

"I'm not evading. If I were, you wouldn't recognize it as such. I've done it in enough conversations with you to know that as fact."

"What?"

"Nothing important."

"Whatever…" We lapsed into silence as we both watched the three adults work on Hermione. She was in a bad way, though they seemed to think she was stabilizing since they let Remus move away to wash the blood off his hands.

"Its not your fault you know."

"That's what she would say and what Ron has _already_ said before he passed out." I nodded as he placed his head in his hands. When he looked at me again I saw a deep sadness and dread in his eyes.

"What?"

"Dumbledore told me the entirety of the prophecy."

"Oh?"

"It says that either I have to kill Voldemort, or he has to kill me."

"Well… that's… a tall order for a teenager." Dumbledore _had_ done a good job at raising Harry as a pig to slaughter for the right cause. The last part would go unsaid, considering Harry's hero worship for the guy. At least Sirius would be able to help Harry now.

"I don't want to kill anyone."

"I can understand that. Nobody ever _truly_ wants to kill someone without a good reason. Though, you have one of those, the guy did kill your family, ruin your godfather's life, and slaughter thousands of innocent people."

"You're always so full of wisdom. Tell me how do you destroy a monster without becoming one?" I looked at Harry for a few moments. He was going to go through with it. Did nobody tell him that prophecies didn't always come true? That nothing in the future was ever set in stone? Even if they did, he would probably do it anyway. That whole saving people thing Hermione was always complaining about.

"The moment you forget what a monster is, is the moment you become one. Don't forget, because that is how you won't become one." I paused, debating for a few moments, "And Harry?"

"Yeah?"

" _Nothing_ is set in stone. If you don't want to kill someone, or if you don't want to fight? You have the right to say no. Prophecies are just someone's 'good guess' at future events. Plus, centaurs are much more accurate when it comes to predicting the future. Just saying." I smiled at the person next to me, a small flicker of surprise appeared on his face.

"I think this is the most emotion, other than anger, that I've ever seen on you."

"Just because I don't show my emotions doesn't mean I don't have them. It just means that I have a reason not to show them."

"I'm… starting to get that."

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	30. Year 5: Part IX

Everyone was out of the infirmary in time to take the train home. Neville and Ronald had been the first two released from the infirmary, followed by Ginny, and then me on the last day before we left.

My housemates inquired about my stay in the hospital and I told them the same lie that I'd told Snape. It was plausible and backed up by Pomphrey. Blaise called bullshit the moment we were alone and asked for the truth. I gladly gave it and he glared at me for a solid five minutes for leaving him behind. He also tentatively asked if his father was present. I told him the truth, that I hadn't seen him.

Blaise and I had been growing closer ever since his we bonded. We weren't as close as the twins and I were, but I could see us getting close. We felt comfortable with each other, enough so that we weren't afraid to shed our masks at the door. It was nice to have a Slytherin around, one that was experiencing the same snubbing that I was. The others tried, but they couldn't quite understand. Sirius and the twins understood to a degree, being the outcasts of their families, but they had housemate and friends to fall back on. We didn't.

Sirius had been looked over at Hogwarts and moved to Grimmauld to be watched over by Remus. From what Harry told me on his daily visit to Hermione, he was awake and thankful to me only two days after the battle.

Hermione woke from her coma after a week or so and was very insistent that nothing was Harry's fault. She and I played cards while we healed. Due to the number of breaks I had sustained and the time it took for Pomphrey to get to me and heal them, they had to be targeted individually by the potion. On top of that, the bones had affected the muscles and the tendons surrounding them. Needless to say, it was a slow and painful recovery for both of us.

Fred and George had sent a letter the morning after, wishing me well and apologizing for not being able to visit me on my sick bed. I sent one back thanking them and inquiring about the shop. It was partly mine after all, I needed to check up on my investment. They sent back a copy of the books. I was greatly impressed. Especially since none of the students at Hogwarts had really been there yet. And that they actually kept books.

Umbridge was returned to the castle on Dumbledore's orders after only two days of negotiation with the centaurs. Someone may have tipped Bane off on what she had been doing to the students, me, and Firenze. While he didn't care about the wizarding race, he was against violence toward young of any kind, protective over me, and still viewed Firenze as a brother. She arrived terrified and slightly damaged, mostly from struggling by the looks of things.

Hermione had been released the morning after I was so long as she took it easy and went to Grimmauld after a quick visit home. I had a feeling she might be moving to Grimmauld after that visit home, but no proof for it.

Harry, Ronald, and Hermione were sitting in their regular seats on the train, and I in mine. This time I was joined by Luna and Blaise. She was silent, reading a book on a creature some kind as I stared out the window. Blaise was doing the same as I was. Bother of us were deep in thought.

Where was I going to go for the summer? Fred and George wouldn't be able to house me, Remus and Sirius didn't want me, the Weasley's still weren't my biggest fans, Luna was going to Switzerland, not that I could stay with her on such short notice anyway, and… and that was it. Those were my options in the magical world. I could always go stay at the hotel again, but that would raise some red flags, whether it be with the media or with the government. Much as I hated to admit it, I was still only 16, not old enough to go off on my own quite yet. Blaise would be at my old house, and I could stay there as well, but I didn't have the best memories in that place.

As I panicked, I failed to notice the train pulling into the station, Luna wishing me goodbye, and everyone departing the train and the platform. Voldemort was back, and war was waged, nobody would stick around. Blaise and I only disembarked the train when the conductor walked by our carriage and told us that we had to because they were leaving the station again in ten minutes.

We sat on our trunks in the corner of the station, waiting and wondering where to go. Blaise and I didn't really want to separate for the summer anymore. Plus, we both wanted to stay in the magical world. It didn't help that neither of us could apparate and the floo wasn't connected to the house. We could take a cab, but I didn't think I had enough muggle cash for that.

I don't know how long we sat there before four men approached us. I looked up, my hand sliding to my wand, ready to attack. There was no need, the four men in front of us were Remus, Sirius, Fred, and George. I relaxed, but Blaise did not. If anything, he looked even more tense.

All four looked tired and worried. Fred and George took seats on either side of me, wrapping their arms around my shoulders. They looked over to Blaise and gave him a nod. I would have worried about them being impostors, but nobody knew that I was in league with these four. Particularly the two who now had their arms around me. Speaking of, I looked at both gingers quizzically.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Was what came out. It wasn't what I meant to say, but it was something that had to be asked. They both frowned at me, a playful glint in their eyes.

"Why, these are our uniforms for the shop!"

"Yes, we thought the magenta would go well with our hair, what do you think?"

"I think you two are color blind or in need of some serious wardrobe changes." I replied, Blaise was nodding along with me.

"Hey, everyone else likes them!"

"Yeah."

"Everyone else thinks you two are joking about those being fashionable. I know you're not." Blaise looked at them in surprise. Apparently, he didn't think they were being serious either.

"That may be true." George looked down at his garments and then to his twin.

"Yeah, maybe, but hey! We own a joke shop, might as well look the part." Fred stated with a grin.

"The part? What, being idiots? Or are you going for jokes to society? Either way, you've nailed it." Blaise commented with a smirk. The twins stuck their tongues out at the Italian and his smirk widened.

"Well, aren't you just a prickly cactus today?" Fred stated.

"Why are you two even here?" I asked in exasperation, not wanting them to realize just how true that statement was for both of us.

"Well, when Remus and Sirius announced that they were coming here to find you after you missed dinner, we realized that we haven't seen you since we left school in April."

"Of course we couldn't let that stand."

"No sir-ee."

"We had to make sure our precious Lily-Pad was alive, well, and not in any pain from the damage inflicted during the stupidity of our younger siblings and their friends." George commented with a grin. Dinner? Guess we've been here longer than I thought.

"I'm your Lily-Pad, am I?" I asked, Blaise was trying not to laugh at the reference, but he wasn't doing well with it.

"Of course you are!" Fred sounded almost insulted that I would think otherwise, which was odder than usual.

"Nobody else is even remotely good enough for you," George confirmed. Blaise made an agreeing noise.

"Not that we are either." Blaise nodded with that.

"Yeah, we aren't either, but we still can't let anybody else have you."

"You two, actually, you _three_ are ridiculous." Inside a warm feeling began to spread, their words offering me a sort of comfort and happiness. My mind went back to the lily pad that had been in the swamp, holding the toad in the center, and the conversation that had followed with Flitwick. Blaise was smiling with the twins and it made me slightly worried for any guys that tried to hit on me.

"You know it!" They all chimed. It was kind of terrifying actually, seeing as Blaise hadn't really interacted much with the twins.

"That swamp was a work of genius by the way." Blaise stated, with me nodding along.

"Thank you! We couldn't have done it without Lils." Fred gestured to me with his free arm.

"Did you like the addition we made?" George asked me.

"Yeah, the representation of you was a little minor, but hard to miss."

"The lily pad?" I asked, just to be sure. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, seeing as it was horribly cheesy.

"Yup! If, or rather when you finally snapped about Umbridge, the toad would fall into the water. We were surprised that the toad was so close to falling off when we left. Then we heard about the herd picking the bitch up and figured the toad was gone for good."

"In both cases." I smiled at them a little. Blaise nodded to confirm their theory seeing as how he had walked by the swamp the day I had asked the centaurs for help and the toad was gone.

"Why a lily pad though? You could've just put a snake or anything green and silver. Or nothing, my magical signature was on it still. Speaking of, Flitwick knows I helped you and I owe him a thank you for removing it from the display."

"We had our reasons…"

"That's all you get for now."

"Though, you should come see the shop."

"We had the mind to mask all magical signatures on the products that we are selling. It didn't occur to us to do the same for the swamp."

"Sorry."

"No harm, I didn't think about it either until I saw him remove it."

"Perhaps we should finish this catch up session another time. Why don't you two go back to Grimmauld and let the others know that we found her." Remus stated, sending my comfort away. The twins left with great reluctance, and only after slipping a note into my hand.

After they were through the floo I turned to the other two men. They still stood tall in front of us and I shivered, remembering what had happened the last time they were side by side in front of me. Instead of speaking to them or getting up from my trunk, I glanced at Blaise and opened the note.

 _Dearest Lily flower,_

 _We just thought you should know that we broke up with Angelina and Katie. From now on when you need to get away from everyone there's always a place in our flat for you, no questions asked. We know that you think Remus and Sirius disowned you, but we want you to listen to them. After, if you don't want to stay at Grimmauld, meet us there and we can bring you straight to the shop and show you where you will be staying._

 _Your favorite persons ever,_

 _Fred and George_

 _P.S. If Blaise needs somewhere to stay, the couch is open. But he could probably stay at Grimmauld if you do._

Sirius cleared his throat causing me to look up them again. I glanced at the floo, wondering if I could escape this conversation. Then I looked at Blaise and wondered if he could keep up.

"Stop looking for an exit strategy." Remus commanded, sometimes I regretted that he was the one that taught me most of what I know about dueling. Giving up on my hopes, I looked at him, waiting for one of the men to speak.

"Thank you for saving my life Lily." I nodded at Sirius in acceptance. Blaise stood up to inch away from the awkward conversation that was sure to follow.

"Sit." Remus ordered, he winced and did as he was told.

"Isn't that what anybody would do if they could? I figured at least one Slytherin should be noted as doing something good before they died." Sirius rolled his eyes. Blaise glared at me. I gave him a look and he reluctantly nodded.

"Somehow I doubt that was your only motivation."

"Lily, would you care to explain why Hermione spent ten minutes yelling at the two of us about disowning you?" Remus asked. Blaise was looking anywhere but the three of us and I was looking at him to avoid looking at Remus and Sirius.

"She spent ten minutes yelling? Impressive, she's rebuilding her stamina. That's good. What is she already doing at Grimmauld though?" I asked, Blaise broke his concentration to give me a disbelieving look. Apparently, a better comment was expected.

"Her parents gave her permission since she needs constant supervision and healing potions that they can't get her. You didn't answer his question." Sirius explained, looking at Blaise now. He was curious about Blaise, I could tell, and I suddenly remembered that they didn't know about our sibling bond. Unless… maybe the twins told them?

"What question?"

"Why is she under the impression that we disowned you?" Remus stated once more, a no-nonsense face staring at me. It made me uncomfortable and told me that playing dumb was a bad idea.

"Well, I assume it was explained to her that you told me not to bother coming home, that you two yelled at me for snapping and wanting to be alone, and that I had broken a part of a contract that made it null and void, thus cancelling out my adoption by you." Remus winced slightly, and Sirius looked at me in the eyes.

"You're right." Sirius stated with a frown.

"Sirius!" Remus looked at his oldest friend in shock and disapproval. Blaise was doing something similar, but more anger than disapproval.

"Well, she is, but that doesn't mean we disowned you. I mean, I may not have legally adopted you, but you're just as much mine as you are his. Also, it's my house and thus I get the final say about whether you can stay there or not. Speaking of, are you ever going to introduce us to him? Where are those high society manners?" I rolled my eyes as Blaise grinned.

"Sirius Black, meet Blaise Zabini, my bonded brother."

"I didn't mean to disown you. I was upset and worried. If it makes you feel any better, I felt terrible for a few weeks after it. I wanted to send a letter in apology, but with Umbridge…"

"I understand. It's nothing new. My real parents didn't really want me either. The twins told me I could stay with them at their flat. I think I might take them up on the offer. I do own part of their company and need to get a feel for it."

"Are you sure you don't want to live with us?" Sirius asked, "The Weasley's aren't staying the whole summer. Just until the end of the week."

"I'm sure."

"Sirius can you and Blaise leave the two of us alone? We'll meet you both at Grimmauld soon." Sirius nodded and motioned for me to stand to allow him to take my trunk with him. I watched them leave with regret. I wanted to be the one leaving. I loved Remus more than I had loved my dad. Knowing that he didn't disown me helped, but it didn't take the sting from his words away. Blaise looked just as uncomfortable as I did, so there was that at least.

"I really _am_ sorry for everything I said. I shouldn't have said it. It's no excuse but the moon was only a few days away and you know that I get snappish around that time. To use your own words, you may notice that it was out of character."

"I did notice that. However, you all but said that you didn't want me around anymore. I figured you meant it. I had a lot on my mind. I still do." My voice got quieter the more I said.

"Does this have anything to do with Harry or the war?" He asked with a pensive look.

"Yes. Harry is… impulsive and stupid. He's untrained, unreliable, and unprepared for the shit that just hit the fan. If Sirius had died… I don't think he would've dealt with it very well. His dueling has improved, but not enough for him to take on the Dark Lord like Dumbledore has planned. Everyone sees him as the savior, but he's just a teenage boy. He's young, and afraid, and none of you are in a place that can help him. Hermione and Ronald are willing to die for him, but outside the order, nobody has been willing to _kill_ for him. I'm the only one that is in a position to keep him alive. Blaise is willing to kill for me, and for the cause, so I have a little help now, but the other don't trust him."

"You knew the Ministry was a trap." Remus questioned without asking.

"Sirius is unpredictable, but he wouldn't risk leaving Grimmauld like that. The maniac wouldn't have been able to get to him. I tried to tell Harry, but he wouldn't listen. He needs to learn to control his emotions before he tries to learn to control his mind. And Snape? Not the person that should be teaching him. I _was_ trying to figure out what to do, but then I heard the screaming and I snapped. I hear enough yelling and slurs at Hogwarts, I didn't need it at home. Plus, Molly Weasley _really_ does need to change."

"I understand why you left. Thinking back, it made sense. I was terrified though. You are an excellent dueler, you know when to fight and when to run, but I'm still responsible for you. If you had told me your location I would probably have felt better about it."

"I get that now, but at the time I was focusing on keeping my… friend? Or whatever he is, alive."

"So, I take it the crush is gone now?"

"It left by Christmas."

"Still no chance you will stay with us?"

"I would rather spend time with the twins. They've been around me since I turned 11, next year I won't see them until holidays."

"I can live with that on two conditions." I narrowed my eyes at the man. "You get your own room at their place, and you come to Grimmauld once a week for at least 4 hours. As your guardian I need to protect your innocence and I would like to see you during the time you have off." I rolled my eyes.

"Is the first condition really a necessary point to make?"

"With the way you were looking at them and the way they were flirting with you? Yes, it is. I may trust _you_ and like them, but I don't trust them that much. Also, Zabini? I expect an explanation for that as well."

"Flirting? Really? That's basically their second nature. They flirt like they breath. Besides, I'm not their type, you should _see_ their exes. As for Blaise… he's a good guy, and he needed an ally that wouldn't try to get him killed."

"Hmm… let's go. They're probably waiting. Everyone was worried when you never showed."

"Everyone?"

"Arthur, Harry, Hermione, the twins, Sirius, and I."

"Much better."

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	31. Year 6: Part I

Summer was fun. I spent my time between the loft and the workroom of the twin's shop. I helped them produce, create, and fine tune their products and even worked on a pet project of mine, a candy that would give the eater the ability to walk on walls. It was incredibly tricky and, to be perfectly honest, I wasn't entirely sure that it was possible. Blaise sent most of that time laughing at us or helping with the potion's aspect of the business. He was one of the best brewers in our year.

I spent lots of time sitting in the back room, going through some of the many books on charms and potions that I had given the twins over the years and the ones that they had bought themselves. I still hadn't really made much headway, but I had figured out that the charms that are placed on brooms might provide some insight.

The door opened, and I glanced up from my page of notes. Fred was standing in the doorway with an odd look on his face.

"What's up?" I asked as he silenced the room. The shop sounded busy today, but the twins usually fed off that energy.

"Dumbledore called for an Order meeting tonight. He said it was something about Harry, surprise, surprise."

"Well, that's… interesting…"

"Mum told us not to bring you with us. She's still not happy that we've joined and claims that you shouldn't be there either." I rolled my eyes. Their mother thought she ruled the world sometimes.

"Well, I do this thing… it's called _what I want_." Fred smiled and chuckled slightly. "But why are you so… _glum_ about it? She does this every time we meet."

"Yes, but I also just realized that you _aren't_ a member of the Order, nor are you old enough to be one. So, if that's the case, why is Dumbledore letting you into meetings? He's not letting Harry even though Sirius said he didn't mind if Harry joined. Hell, he won't even let Harry live at Grimmauld even though Sirius' name has been cleared."

"I don't know why Dumbledore is letting me sit in on meetings or why he insists on Harry staying with _those people_. I think it has to do with his plan for this war. He must have one, he wouldn't be orchestrating everything the way he has been if he didn't… I mean, there _are_ ways to get out of a magically binding contract, especially for a minor. The DA wouldn't have escaped his notice either, the elves told me he sometimes observed the group while they were practicing or sent Filch to the other side of the school when we left the room. He didn't even say anything about us leaving school grounds that night. He also knows something about Harry's scar that he's not telling anyone."

"You think he's planning something…" Fred stated, a look of contemplation on his face. Blaise and I had had a similar conversation before the first Order meeting this summer. He came with me, Dumbledore hadn't even blinked at his presence even without knowing about the sibling bond. In fact, he seemed almost giddy. Honestly, I was kind of scared for Dumbledore's plans regarding Blaise.

"I think he's putting Harry in a perfect place to be a sheep, following his whims like a pig to slaughter. He has also been acting kind of weird at the last two meetings… I think I saw spell damage on his hand."

"Huh… but that doesn't tell us why he's letting you in. Or Blaise. You don't think he is using you as a pawn, do you?"

"A pawn? No. He hates my guts because I refuse to conform to his wills. Remus has taken to silencing me during meetings to keep me from questioning him in the middle of meetings. Honestly, I think the only reason he lets me sit in is because he knows that Remus and Sirius will tell me everything afterwards anyway and he wants to keep Harry in the dark as much as possible. As for Blaise… plans to turn him into a back-up Snape?"

"I guess… so, what are you working on?"

"My pet project."

"Oh! Any progress?" Fred came over and sat next to me, listening to me pour over my notes and explain my ideas. When George entered the room a little while later with a disgruntled look, I glanced at the clock to see it was closing time.

"Oops."

"Fred, next time? I'm coming back here to let her know about the meeting and you're staying in the shop during peak hours by yourself until closing."

"My bad… I didn't mean to stay back here this long. But, look! The progress on her project has been advancing well, I was listening to her describe her theories." George rolled his eyes but came over to sit and listen to the theories as well. When we finally emerged from our research it was past time to leave for the meeting and Blaise was waiting for us by the floo. We wouldn't be late, but we wouldn't be as early as we usually were. Blaise and I saw that as a blessing, what with the sneers and mean comments that had become common for us.

We arrived to a noisy Grimmauld Place. The entire Weasley family was present, Bill and Charlie included. Hermione was there, and her cat was running around as she and Ginny chased it. The members of the Order were greeting and talking to each other, aside from Moody who was glaring at everyone suspiciously. Remus and Sirius were engaged in a game of chess and Tonks sat next to them cheering them on and offering bad advice to both sides. I could distantly hear Molly fussing in the kitchen with Kreature.

Mrs. Black's portrait was surprisingly quiet considering the noise. I peeked my head into the hall to see why, her portrait was encased in a soundproof glass case. I smiled and shook my head.

"Lily! Get over here!" Sirius called out. "I need some help defeating Remus!" I glanced at the twins and Blaise before walking over to the duo. The twins were already walking over to their older brothers for a chat, so Blaise followed me over to the chess group.

"Hello, how's the shop going?" Remus asked once I had sat next to Tonks.

"It's going great. I think I have a lead on how to make my product work. Though I'm, going to need a specific book on how to make a broom fly and the enchantments involved…"

"Stop distracting her Remus, I am determined to beat you." Sirius gestured to the board and with a glance I saw that Sirius was doomed no matter what he did. Blaise told him as much, garnering a long groan from the man.

"I told you Sirius, you're just no good at chess when sober." I laughed. Remus had been teasing the man that he was better at many tasks when drunk and Sirius was determined to prove him wrong. So far, he hadn't. He was a terrible cook, chess player, and singer when sober compared to when drunk. Not that he was that good of a cook or singer when drunk either. It was surprising how much worse he was when sober though. I hadn't thought he could be any worse.

"Lily! Get over here!" George called from the couch on the other side of the room.

"Hey! Come on now! You two get to see her every day! Let us have some time with her!" Sirius called back with a pout. I laughed but stood to go to the other side of the room. I paused before walking away to grab Blaise and drag him along. He was inspecting the board, trying to figure out how Sirius had managed what he had.

"Traitors!" Remus and Sirius both called after us. I laughed and ignored them. Unlike everyone else, when they said it, it was a joke; not an insult.

"We're Slytherins, what do you expect?" This prompted laughs from them at least. I sat in between the twins on the couch, where they had made space for me, and smiled at the two eldest Weasleys. Blaise stood awkwardly nearby for a few moments before George took pity on him and moved over to sit in his twin's lap. Fred protested but George ignored him and motioned to the seat, inviting Blaise to take it. Eventually, George ended up sitting on the ground at my feet.

"Hello Lily, I don't think we've met, properly that is." Bill stated with a small smile. "But, I've heard plenty about you." His smile grew, and I was immediately curious.

"Oh, really? From who, because different people in your family have different views…"

"How so?"

"Well, Fred and George would tell you I'm a genius and describe me as, what was it, the reincarnation of the most perfect form of evil that ever existed?" The twins nodded with stupid smiles on their faces, bringing smirks to Bill and Charlie's face and a contemplative frown to Blaise's. "Ginny and Ronald would likely call me a Slytherin coward and downright rude, possibly evil and possibly just every bad word under the sun, maybe an emotionless robot. Then there's him… I think he thinks I'm insane." I finished, motioning to Charlie with my chin.

"Oh yes, I absolutely do." Charlie chimed in.

"Well, now I'm curious…" Blaise said, looking from me to Charlie, "Not that I disagree, you're batshit crazy, but still."

"I've heard it all at various points since I've been home. I must say though, you certainly have an impressive resume." Bill stated.

"As do you. Most of what I've heard has been from the twins, Hermione, and rumors from the professors." I didn't bother to mention the 'boasting' from Ronald over the years.

"Rumors?"

"Well, gossip… I think they preferred you over any of the others. Apparently, you were more… well adjusted." I smiled at the twins when they made wounded noises. This got a smile from Blaise.

"I see… and just how did you find this out?"

"I may have overheard it when standing outside the entrance to the staff room one time…" This brought some laughs out of the elder brothers.

"Why didn't you invite us?" George asked, fake hurt on his face. I gave him a few pats on the cheek in lieu of an answer.

"Well, I still think you are insane." Charlie commented.

"Can you explain what I'm missing here? Because I think I'm missing something and it's making me curious." Blaise asked with another glance toward me.

"She didn't tell you? She who crosses an angry dragon's path without a second thought? And allies themselves with all the magical creatures in the Forbidden Forest? Shocker! Mental, that one is." Blaise and the twins all turned to give me looks. Blaise was incredulous, and the twins were… I actually couldn't tell what they were thinking.

"She's the best kind of mental though." George answered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and shaking me slightly. I rolled my eyes and pushed him over slightly.

"What did you two want me for anyway?"

"Oh, nothing much." Fred started.

"Yeah, mostly just thought you should meet Bill at some point before dinner."

"Mum doesn't really like Lily." Fred clarified for his two older brothers.

"The feeling is at least partially reciprocated." I added on.

"So, the two of them almost always have some kind of disagreement." George continued.

"It hasn't been too bad this summer." Blaise explained, giving his limited input.

"Which means that a big one must be coming." Fred had a maniacal grin on his face and, when I looked over, George's almost matched. "Mum didn't want her here tonight."

"Which means that it's going to be show time when she notices we brought her anyway."

"In that case, I'm going back to spend more time with my guardians. I don't get to see then as often with _you two_ hogging me." I left Blaise with the four Weasley's and went back over to sit with Remus and Sirius. I'd missed them this summer, more so than I thought I would.

I got the death stare from Molly all during the meeting and dinner afterwards. I did my best to ignore it and not start a fight, for the sake of the eldest Weasley brothers. Bill and Charlie seemed to be anxiously waiting for it though. And here I thought the twins and Sirius were probably the only ones who found it amusing. Blaise thought it was justified, which I wouldn't totally disagree with…

"I still cannot understand what was going through your heads. A joke shop for crying out loud!" Molly exclaimed when the topic came up near the end of dinner. I tried not to say anything, but when I saw the disapproval and disappointment on her face and the sadness and shame on the twin's, I snapped. Blaise looked about to stop me before Molly continued. "And you don't even have a reliable source of production! What are you going to do when this fails?" After that comment, Blaise looked like he wanted to snap.

"Have you even been to the joke shop?" I asked through gritted teeth. The twins sat up in anticipation, Sirius copying their movement. Remus put his head in his hands and slumped down. Blaise was glaring at Molly from my left. Bill and Charlie watched their actions with interest. Molly glared at Blaise and me.

"I don't need to go there to know that it is not worth dropping out of school and only getting 3 OWLs for!" Ronald, Ginny, and Hermione were staring at the table and eating as if this didn't concern them. And they thought they had nothing in common with the Slytherins.

"Oh, so you are calling it… _what_ exactly?" I asked with a deadly calm voice that the twins had likened to the deceptive smell of vanilla compared to its taste.

"A waste of time, talent, and money! They should have gotten their OWLs, then their NEWTs, and then gone on to work a _respectful_ career!"

"So, a wildly popular and successful joke shop is a disrespectful career? As opposed to _what_? At Ministry that is so corrupt that, at the moment, half the people working there are Death Eaters or too scared to quit? That's what you want, isn't it? For them to work in the Ministry? The _most prestigious job in history_?

"Tell me, can you see any of your sons, aside from Percy, working in the Ministry and being happy? Ronald wants to be a famous quidditch player, Charlie works with dragons, Bill is a curse breaker, and Ginny wants to be a journalist or a quidditch player.

"Not only that, but can you see the two men who decided that _magenta and orange_ were the best choices in color for their uniforms and their shop, sitting in an office shuffling papers all day long? The two men that spend _all_ of their free time using their knowledge in charms and transfiguration to create amazing products; which, by the way, sell out almost as fast as they make them, spending all of their time filling out forms on the misuse of a mending spell at Mungo's? Because I can't.

"And as far as the money being wasted… well, it's not like it was their money. Harry gave them a thousand gallons after the tournament, and I gave them the rest of the funds and help they needed to create, buy ingredients, and mass produce their products. I'm also a silent partner in the business as a whole. So really, if it fails, its _my_ money."

"Why you…"

"In fact!" I said over her, ignoring that she had started to talk. "I haven't been able to see them working for anyone else ever since I met them. It's why, when they told me in their fifth year that they didn't see the point in studying for and getting all of their OWLs, I helped them study for the ones they would need. I didn't _question_ or _criticize_ them.

"That day also happened to be when they told me about their plans for the joke shop. For their next birthday, I gave them their first investment for the shop. I helped them to get their dream, you tried to stop them from reaching it.

"When they sat with me on the train back to Hogwarts after Easter and told me that they bought a shop and that they were planning on dropping out, I didn't question if it was what they wanted or if it was a good idea. I only questioned if they were ready and asked them to stay for _my_ sake.

"You bring them down at every chance when it comes to their dreams. I'm honestly sick of it. You need to stop and take a glance at the reality of the situation. Maybe visit the shop you are claiming is a waste of time and see its success first hand since you clearly don't believe that what you are being told is true." I said all of this in a deceptively calm voice, and nobody tried to interrupt me. Remus was looking at me now with a small smile.

"Well you're just… just a… an evil _Slytherin_ and a bad influence on them! You knew they were dropping out and didn't try to stop them _and_ you knew they were ruining their future and didn't question it? Whoever raised you did a terrible job!" A few gasps were heard from the twins, Blaise, Bill, and Charlie. I glanced at Remus to see his eyes were amber and he was taking deep breaths. Sirius was glaring at the woman and had a placating hand on Remus' shoulder to keep him from doing anything.

"Well, I may be an evil Slytherin and a bad influence, but at least I know what I am rather than living in a state of denial." I paused to look at the woman, " _Also_ , the people who _raised me_? I wasn't raised by anyone.

"It was a revolving door of nannys and babysitters. My parents didn't care that I existed, just that they had someone to pass their wealth to. I grew up quickly and learned to take care of myself." I looked at Remus then, before looking back into Molly's eyes. He looked calmer now and was listening to what I had to say with a disbelieving stare.

"However, that's not to say I was done being raised. Remus and Sirius were the other two that raised me, so I would be careful of what you say in front of them. They are rather protective. They also know who my allies are and how to use them against you. Centaurs, house elves, thestrals, hippogriffs, unicorns, and acromantulas don't like it when you disrespect their charges. Keep that in mind before you talk about my character or my parentage again." I looked over to Remus again and watched him as I continued, "Werewolves are fairly protective over their kin as well." I stood and left the room, finished eating for the night. I heard a soft growl as I left.

"You ready to go home?" George asked with a small grin as he, Fred, and Blaise joined me in the entry room.

"I would rather not be here to hear Remus to tear a new one into Mum." Fred explained, "Not that she doesn't deserve it in this case. Woman needs to think before she speaks."

"Yeah, once was enough." I furrowed my brow in confusion as I let the three of them guide me into the floo.

"What do you mean once was enough? When did Remus do it before?" Blaise questioned, asking what I was wondering.

"Easter, after you left." My jaw dropped. George reached over and closed my gaping mouth as Fred activated the floo and brought us to the living room of the flat. The sofa was set up as a bed for Blaise, so we sat on the ground in front of it. I was staying in George's bedroom for the summer and he and Fred shared the other room. We spent an hour listening to the dramatized retelling of Remus yelling at Molly for an offhand comment she had made about me.

It was only a week later that the twins came back from visiting the Burrow with news of meeting Bill's girlfriend, Fleur Delacour. I was surprised to hear about it, but even more so to hear about Harry arriving there this morning. Apparently Dumbeldore had collected him and brought him to meet one Professor Horace Slughorn and convince the man to come back and teach at Hogwarts.

That part didn't surprise me as much. Remus told me about Slughorn before. Biased, but not for blood-status or house. He was exceptionally picky about it, but he collected students. It could be for many reasons; riches, connections, and talent being the biggest ones. Name hardly mattered to him.

Apparently he had collected both of Harry's parents, but had not collected Remus or Sirius. Harry would be just his type too, the golden boy of the wizarding world. Blaise and I, well maybe less so.

Just as they finished their explanation of what happened, two owls tapped at the window carrying official looking letters. Blaise and my OWL results.

I let the owls in and took the letter addressed to me as Blaise took the other. We offered the birds a treat and a drink as we did. Some people were bound to be upset at their scores and take it out on the birds. Nott came to mind.

"Those your guy's test marks?" Fred asked looking over my shoulder. George came over to stand next to his brother and look over Blaise's. I rolled my eyes, a motion that was copied by Blaise.

"Nope. This is the letter that will tell me if my shop mates are really color blind or just idiots."

"Mine's questioning my sanity. I decided to get tested, considering how I am currently living."

"Open them then!" George exclaimed.

 _Dear Miss Lily Moon,_

 _Please find enclosed a copy of of your Ordinary Wizarding Level final grades._

 _We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your efforts throughout the academic year. We hope that you receive the grades you need to advance towards your preferred career._

 _Your subject teachers will be happy to go over your results and options when you return to school._

 _Good luck with your future studies!_

 _Griselda Marchbanks_

I flipped the page to see my results and was not shocked at the contents.

 _Pass/Fail grades:_

 _Outstanding (O)_

 _Exceeds Expectations (E)_

 _Acceptable (A)_

 _Poor (P)_

 _Dreadful (D)_

 _Troll (T)_

 _Ancient Runes—O_

 _Arithmancy—O_

 _Astronomy—E_

 _Care of Magical Creatures—A_

 _Charms—O_

 _Defense Against the Dark Arts—E_

 _Divination—A_

 _Herbology—A_

 _History of Magic—E_

 _Potions—E_

 _Transfiguration—O_

 _Congratulations on your exemplary marks and we wish you the best in the future!_

"You got 4 Os, 4 Es, and 3 A's!?" Fred asked, surprise flickering in his eyes.

"That's awesome! You got 11 OWLs!" George stated, his exuberance was cut short once he processed the grades I'd received.

"How is that possible? My marks are higher than yours and you tutored me in Astronomy and COMC." Blaise stated.

"My marks aren't high enough in any of them to warrant a second glance. That's good." I commented, ignoring everything they were saying. I was aiming for an A in Defense, not an E.

"You chose what you wanted your marks to be, didn't you?" Blaise asked with a sad, but understanding smile.

"No…" I said, allowing my voice to tell them the truth.

"Let's go see Remus and Sirius, they'll want to know what you got." On our way to the floo, Blaise and I traded letters so I could see what he got. He managed 5 Os, 2 Es, 1 A, and 1 T. He hadn't passed his Astronomy OWL and hadn't even bothered with the Divination one. Other than that, our grades were pretty similar.

Sirius was ecstatic at our marks and almost insisted on throwing a party. I simply raised a brow and shook my head. There was no party to be held. After all, who would attend?

I arrived at the train platform with little fanfare. Just as I walked through the floo, I saw a head of platinum blonde entering a carriage of the train. Confused, I walked over to the train and got on in the middle for once. I heard Blaise exit the floo and call out my name in confusion.

I crept down the aisle, taking care to not alert the boy to my presence. He was sitting in his compartment, alone, staring at the floor in thought. I saw his hand transfer from his knee to his left wrist and got a bad feeling. When he opened his eyes I walked away and to my regular seat without a word. It sucked, but I felt bad for him. Blaise was waiting in our compartment when I arrived.

"What's going on?" He greeted.

"You know that thing that you mentioned last year in the Forbidden Forest?"

"About the plan to have me marked?"

"Yeah… I think they went through with it."

"Draco?"

"Draco."

"Shit. What do you think his assignment is? Recruit more people?"

"No clue. I don't like not knowing." We remained silent as the train filled and began its journey through the country side. Halfway through the train ride Luna joined us. She sat quietly and didn't bother explaining her sudden appearance. I didn't bother asking.

Ronald joined us as well, apparently after waiting for Harry, Hermione, and Ginny to reappear even though they never did. Though he only did so under the circumstance of having no one else to sit with, it was still comforting to have a red head in my carriage on the way to Hogwarts.

After a long journey, we had to sit through an even longer feast. Draco was silent the whole time. Nobody seemed to care that his and Nott's fathers, were arrested at the end of last year for being Death Eaters. More than likely because they all had family members that were marked. If they knew that my family was either muggles or Order members…

They chatted and gossiped, occasionally mentioning the Dark Lord or muttering a slur under their breath. Nobody talked to Blaise or I, they didn't even seem to notice that we were next to them, listening and absorbing everything they were saying.

During Dumbledore's speech he introduced Horace Slughorn as our new potions instructor and announced that Snape would be teaching us Defense. Seeing as Blaise and I had both classes, this was certain to be quite interesting.

Slughorn was as slimy as his name suggested, I decided after my first potions lesson. First, he allowed Harry and Ronald into his class when I doubted they had the marks for it, and then he opened a cauldron of Amortentia for the class to smell, causing Hermione to get rather flustered. I plugged my nose the second he removed he lid and stepped away to avoid its affects, Blaise doing the same at my side. Slughorn seemed to notice this, giving us an approving look. After that he had us brew the hardest potion in our books. Finally, he was giving a dangerous potion to the person who brewed it correctly.

I managed a decent version, one I thought would be enough to beat most everyone else. Blaise's looked flawless, as I expected. However, we never got to find out how well it worked since, when Slughorn tried Harry's potion, he deemed it the winner, not even bothering with anybody else's.

At first annoyance surged, then curiosity. Harry had only just gotten an E in his potion OWL, so how had he brewed this potion? Hermione hadn't managed it, so she hadn't helped him... Curious…

Blaise and I were the last to leave after class and Slughorn stopped us just before the door. After a quick conversation I was disappointed to find out that I had made it on his radar and likely into his collection. Apparently, it didn't take much. So far, this year was going just _swimmingly_. I really wished Fred and George were here, or that I could at least send them a letter without worrying about it getting intercepted. At least I had an equally annoyed Blaise by my side.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. The beginning of Year 6 is here.**


	32. Year 6: Part II

I wandered towards the forest for the first time of the school year on the second Friday since we'd arrived. I was no more cautious than I normally was, nor was I expecting to be met with anything or anybody. Blaise had chosen to stay up at the castle, not being a big fan of the forest and having to do the Ancient Runes translation we were assigned.

Instead of residing deep within the forest the acromantulas were stationed in the first clearing, near Hagrid's hut. This was odd since their colony had created quite the home for themselves in the darkest portion of the forest. I decided to approach to see what was wrong, but not to enter in case of hostility. Hagrid was stood in front of Aragog, the leader of their coven, talking with him as an old friend.

From the sounds of things, he was dying. Aragog, not Hagrid. I wondered why that was for no more than a moment before I remembered just how _old_ Aragog was. It was impressive he lived this long, to be honest. I felt bad for the spider, he was interesting to be sure and this would hit his colony hard.

When one of the spiders saw me, it made some kind of clicking noise. I was worried for a split second that I was intruding on something I shouldn't. Aragog stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at me, he made a clicking noise in response to the first spider and went back to his conversation.

The spider approached me and dropped something near my feet before going back to its spot. I picked up the object and saw it was a pincer from one of their comrades, still containing its venom. I conjured a small bag and placed it inside for safe keeping. Acromantula venom was as expensive as it was rare. It would make a good gift to Blaise or the twins.

I quietly removed myself from the area and allowed myself to drift through the forest. The unicorns were as majestic as usual, and one came up to me for a pat on the head, leaving a strand of its hair on my sweater. I thanked it for its gift and conjured a container for it. I stayed with the unicorn until it heard something and rushed in another direction after one final nuzzling to my arm. It had left another hair on me.

I stopped to see the thestrals, another two foals had joined the group. I would need to bring them some food soon. Two of the adults recognized me and cantered over. Both began rubbing against my arm before walking off once more. When I glanced down I saw that there were several hairs from the thestrals on my arms. I plucked them off and placed them in the same container as the unicorn hair.

As I went on through the forest, I found that many of the creatures were being friendlier than they normally were. The hippogriffs bowed before me as soon as I entered their clearing, the fairies circled and followed me for about ten minutes, bowtruckles deformed and jumped to sit on my shoulders, at this rate I would look like I lost a fight with a bush when I returned to the common room. After placing the bowtruckles back on their tree I turned to begin a trek back to the castle and was met by an amused Bane and Firenze. I stood, looking between the two with suspicion. As far as I was aware, Firenze was still teaching and living at Hogwarts, so what was he doing with Bane?

"Hello Lily." Firenze stated.

"Firenze. Bane. To what do I owe the honor?" I nodded respectfully to both men. They waved me closer and flanked both sides as we began to walk to the school.

"As a professor, I am required to escort you out of the forest and up to the castle, it is after curfew, as I'm sure you are aware."

"You were much nicer when you weren't a professor." I commented with a wry grin. I didn't protest to returning to the school, but in my head I was slightly disappointed. The forest was always best visited at night.

"No, I simply did not have a responsibility to keep you from breaking the rules. Tell the twins that I loved the swamp." I chuckled and turned to Bane.

"And you?"

"I wished to speak with you and Firenze about something." He had his serious face on, indicating that this might not be a happy subject.

"About what?"

"The Headmaster of Hogwarts is ill."

"I saw that as well, it appears that he is dying." Firenze concurred.

"Indeed. You will have also seen, no doubt, that this castle and the rest of Britain is going to get very… bad after he passes. I feel that it is likely the war and the evil we have been warning you about since we met has finally arrived, Lily. We know the evil has arrived, but it has yet to reach it's peak. If a war does come to pass, I would like to wish you both plenty health."

"And I, you, Bane. But why are you telling me this? Firenze already knows and I'm pretty certain you aren't supposed to be telling _me_ any of this." I had that information running on repeat in my mind. Dumbledore was going to die, and soon. Probably in the spring if the pattern held true from previous years. I would need to talk to Blaise. And the twins. And probably Remus and Sirius…

"A war is coming. It may be in one year, it may be in five. When it comes, I want you both to know that the herd offers its alliance to you both, assuming you're on the same side. It appears the other creatures of the forest are offering their support as well, Lily." Bane gestured to the box and the bag I carried. Suddenly the gifts made sense. The creatures of the forest knew what was coming, they sensed the evil and dark magic rising in the air. They had picked me over all else. It made me wonder how many others before me had showed kindness to the creatures of this forest. I wondered if Voldemort knew that I had a practical army to go against his.

I wondered if it would be enough.

"I suppose they are." I felt bad about them offering their allegiance. It would end in a lot of death, which was the last thing I wanted for any of them.

"It is a great power to hold. Having all of the creatures in the forest at your beck and call. Very few have managed before. In fact, the last one hasn't been for many years."

"I don't though. I have them in allegiance, but not at my call. I don't offer my kindness to hold something over you, I do it to be a decent person to those who I share a world with."

"That is the reason why I would like you to allow me to rectify that." Bane held out an amulet in the pal, of his hand. I reached out for it and he dropped it into my hand without the hesitation I was showing.

Firenze gasped, and when I turned to look at him, he was looking at Bane in shock. I was suddenly more curious about what this amulet did, what it meant.

"What is it?" I inspected the, frankly beautiful, amulet. It was triangular and held a yellow gem in the center. Surrounding the bright stone on all sides, was a dark wood in the same configuration as a vine might show. It displayed both the light and darkness that could be found in the forest, though the gem itself was cracked and showed slivers of blue in the top corner. It was beautiful and seemed to still hold much life.

"That is the Amulet of the Forest. So long as the forest has life, so will it. I am gifting it to you in agreeance with the other creatures of this forest, even those you haven't met. It has taken me years to get the approval of everyone, but it seems I have done so just in time. Wear it at all times and, when the final confrontation is upon us, cast a patronus into the gem. We will come to your aid as we are able." Bane explained.

"This is a great honor and I appreciate it greatly. I would ask if you're certain you would be able to fight in the confrontation, but you obviously know something that I don't. I'm assuming the battle will take place here?" That was cause for worry considering how many children lived in the castle.

"Indeed, it will, but only moons after Dumbledore's passing." I nodded and handed my offerings to Firenze, so I could attach the amulet to my neck. I took my things back after the amulet sat comfortably, resting below the neckline of any shirts I may choose to wear.

Bane galloped back to his camp and Firenze walked me back to the castle. When we reached the entrance, he waved me in as he went to search the grounds for any students out of bed. I knew it was more to avoid being in the school for too long. He was used to living in the wilderness, not in a castle. It was an adjustment he didn't seem to want to make.

I walked straight to the Slytherin common room when I arrived back at the castle. Blaise was sitting by the fire, reading a massive book, likely about potions. The only other person in the room was Malfoy. He was reading something as well, a book I recognized from on of my treks to Grimmauld's library. It was about dark spells and curses. I ignored it, for now, and grabbed Blaise's hand.

"I need to talk to you, come with me." Malfoy looked up from his book as I dragged Blaise from the common room. He didn't say anything, which was odd. Usually he would make a comment about losing Slytherin house points or us sneaking off for a snog in the dark. I had more important things on my mind in that moment than Malfoy, I would think about him later.

"What's going on? You seem worried about something." Blaise whispered as I pulled him into an empty classroom. The good thing about being a Slytherin was that you got to know the dungeons and where the prefects and professors patrolled. This wasn't one of those areas.

"I talked to Firenze and Bane tonight in the forest after a few other encounters."

"About?" I told Blaise everything that happened, starting with the acromantulas and ending with the conversation with Bane.

"As you can tell, I'm a little surprised." Blaise was silent for a few moments, thinking over all the information I had just thrown at him.

"Let me get this straight. Dumbledore is dying and probably won't be here by this time next year. You're predicting this is going to happen in the spring and that it has something to do with the spell damage on his hand."

"Yup, although… there's always the chance someone will see his weakness and take the chance to kill him before the curse does. It also means that the school likely won't be safe next year."

"So, we're going to follow the twin's example and drop out before seventh year?"

"I don't know that I'll have a choice. You might be able to stay, but I certainly won't."

"What did they say about the final war again? The time frame for it?"

"Many moons after Dumbledore's passing."

"That doesn't give us much to go on, but it does tell us we have at least a year. Many moons means many months. If you're right about him dying in the spring, that means we have this school year and most of next year, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Something about what Firenze said rung a bell for me… he said something about the amulet giving great power, it sounds familiar, but I can't figure out where I've heard it before."

"I don't recognize it, but I'll take your word for it."

"What do you think is going on with Malfoy?"

"I think he's marked. He makes sure his arms are always covered and he's been way too quiet. He doesn't hang around with the others like he used to. It's either his father going to Azkaban really affected him, or he's got another reason to be subdued."

"Like a self-proclaimed Dark Lord with a habit to torture those who displease him breathing down his neck?"

"Exactly like that." I nodded, and we remained silent for a few moments before walking to the common room again. Malfoy was gone, and the room was empty. We went our separate ways for the night, both of our minds heavy with information and questions with no answers.

It was Hogsmeade weekend and Fred and/or George was going to meet me. They had sent word via Harry that one, or both, of them would meet me in the clearing behind the Three Broomsticks. I was so excited I nearly skipped there that morning, getting teased by Blaise for it the entire way. He'd managed to get a date with a girl from Hufflepuff for the day.

I was greatly disappointed to see the clearing empty when I arrived but knew that the twins were nothing if not unpunctual. Sure enough, about 30 minutes after my arrival, one head of ginger hair appeared on the rock next to mine. I looked over to see a grinning, freckled face looking at me.

"Fancy meeting you here."

"Hello Fred." I didn't even need to think to know which twin it was. Only Fred would appear like that. George would have walked into the clearing like a _civilized_ person, and he probably would've only been ten minutes late. I jumped from my seat and ran over to embrace him in a tight hug. It had been over a month since I'd last seen, spoken, or properly heard from either of my twins.

"I missed you Lils." He muttered into my hair, holding me just as tightly.

"I missed you two as well. I suppose George running the shop today?"

"For now. We couldn't decide who would meet with you, so we came up with a plan. I would get you for the morning and we would swap during the lunch break."

"Sounds great." We parted, reluctantly, and began to walk on the path. I told him all of what had been happening up at the school and since we had parted. I told him about Draco and my sinking suspicions, about Slughorn, the potion in Harry's possession, the Slug Club that I was likely a part of, Aragog, how things were going for Blaise, and about my conversation with Bane and Firenze. He, in return, told me of all the funny things that had been going on in the shop, with his family, updates on Fleur and Bill, and about Sirius and Remus visiting the shop often. He told me the rest would be for George to tell. After that we circled back to talking about what I had learned about Dumbledore.

"I should get going. It's the beginning of lunch. You go get some food and be back here in half an hour to meet George." I nodded and gave Fred one final hug before walking back to the Three Broomsticks.

I saw that Draco was sulking near the door, drinking something that looked more like fire whiskey than butterbeer. He kept glancing around, like he was feeling guilty. He looked much worse than he normally did. His face was ashen rather than pale, his eyes sunken and dull. He was quieter too, he didn't even talk or sit with his friends, who were sitting on the other side of the tavern. He was losing weight and slumped over most of the time. I had my suspicions about what was going on with him and they were only growing with each passing day.

I also noticed a few others in the room once I'd looked away from Malfoy. Slughorn, Mundungus, Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and a few people that I recognized but couldn't place a name to.

I went to the counter and ordered a sandwich to go. I figured I would need to eat it as I went since I needed to drop by Scrivenshaft's while I was in the area.

I got the new quill that I needed and ate as I walked back to the clearing. George was already there when I arrived. He sat facing me and smiled a little once he noticed I was who he was expecting.

"Hello, my little lily pad." He stated as he pulled me into a hug. I laughed into his jacket as I hugged him back. Once we separated, we began to talk much like Fred and I had. He went first, telling me everything about how the shop was doing, the products they were working on, and about Order business that I hadn't been able to hear about. In return I repeated everything I had told Fred and added some ideas that I had for new products. He told me he would look into my suggestions and had a similar reaction to my news about Dumbledore.

"If he really is dying, then that's really not good. He may not be your favorite person, but he is a powerful ally to have against Voldy. He's the only person that Voldy fears. If, and when, he dies…"

"I know. Plus, just think of how Harry will take this."

"Shit."

"Yeah… there's more."

"What?" A look of dread passed over his face at the mention of more.

"I don't think he's just going to let himself die like that. He's been having lessons with Harry. I think he's planning on using his death for something." Blaise and I had talked about this once we realized that the lessons were happening. Even then, we'd only found out because of Hermione's jealous ranting.

"Damn…"

"Still more… and this may be the worst news of all."

"Oh, Merlin…"

"I have to go to some stupid party for the Slug Club around Christmas." George froze for a moment before he burst into laughter.

"How is that what you think is the worst news?" He huffed out between boughs of laughter.

"It means I need to find a date." George stopped laughing very suddenly. "As if that wouldn't be hard enough, because of the current climate, I can't go with Harry. Blaise already found a date and all my other housemates are Death Eaters. I can't take anyone from Gryffindor because of the rivalries. Hufflepuffs run at the sight of me, and Ravenclaws are sooo annoying. Blaise is lucky he has charm, he managed to convince the Hufflepuff he's on a date with today to go with him."

"So just don't bring a date." George said very seriously. When I looked at him again his ears had gone slightly red and there was a gleam in his eyes that made me suspicious.

"That would look weird though, especially for someone of high society. I was brought up to never go to any kind of benefit alone. Those people are scorned."

"You're always going on about how much you hated being part of high society and how it needed to change. Be the change you want and all that. Go alone, drink terrible punch, don't dance with people when they ask, and have a good time making connections even though they may not help you when the truth comes out or they all die in a horrible war."

"Well, that took a turn… but you _do_ have a point…" I paused to think. George seemed awfully set on me not having a date, but he made good points. "I think I will go alone. If anything, they will think that I have a marriage contract with someone out of school and don't want to violate it, but it will be too gauche for them to ask."

"Sure, let's go with that." I smiled at George and was about to change the subject when someone entered the clearing. We both turned to see who in rapid succession, removing our wands and aiming as well in case it was a foe. Or someone who needed to be obliviated. George put his down quickly, but I was reluctant to do the same. McGonagall was looking between us in shock.

"Hello Professor!" George greeted with a giant grin. I holstered my wand and rolled my eyes at him. I gave him a slap on the head for good measure.

"Professor McGonagall." I nodded respectfully. She looked between us for a few moments before snapping back into herself.

"Hello you two. I'm afraid that you will need to return to the castle Miss. Moon. Hogsmeade is being cut short today due to an emergent situation."

"What kind of _emergent situation_?" George asked, straightening his posture and looking like he wanted to step in front of me.

"A student has been cursed and will be brought to St. Mungo's shortly. It was an attack we believe, and thus we are taking action."

"Who?" I asked in a quiet voice. I had a feeling I knew who caused it, this was too big of a coincidence for it to be anyone else.

"Katie Bell." I felt George stiffen, I did a little as well. Fred had been dating her until just before summer. She had been at the Three Broomsticks… Malfoy had glanced at her at one point.

"Miss. Moon?" I broke from my shock and looked over at George. Figuring it was no use to hide it since McGonagall already knew I met with him, I walked over to George and hugged him.

"See you when I see you George. Tell Fred I said to behave as much as he could."

"No can-do lily pad. You know the two of us, you've said it yourself, we aren't meant to behave. Besides, if you wanted us to behave you should've set a better example, not given us encouragement, and not given us as many ideas as you have. We'll send more correspondence to Ron and Harry when we can and have them pass it off. Be safe and tell Firenze I said hey."

"Okay, if nothing else, I will see you at Christmas. Am I still staying with you two?"

"No, we're staying at the Burrow and coming to yours as often as possible. Remember, go solo to that party and don't dread it so much." George apparated away with one final smile. I laughed and turned to leave, catching eyes with McGonagall. She had a far away look in her eyes, like she was remembering a particularly painful memory.

"Professor? Are you alright?" She snapped out of her reverie and smiled slightly in my direction.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. You remind me of Lily and James Potter is all."

"How so?"

"Everyone thought Lily to be the perfect student, smart, well behaved, and the complete opposite of James. They were wrong of course. The number of times I found her sneaking out with the boys in their seventh year was staggering."

"I remind a lot of people of Lily it seems." I nodded at the professor as I passed her on my way back towards the school. She continued on her search for students as I followed instructions. If I reminded her of Lily and the twins of James, did that mean she foresaw us getting together?

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. This chapter holds a few important bits of information for the rest of the story. You might be able to figure out what's going to happen by reading it.**


	33. Year 6: Part III

The day after the first Quidditch game of the year I met up with Hermione, leaving Blaise to fend for himself against the other Slytherins. This time we met in a secluded alcove on the third floor. We sat and talked for little while, but I could tell that something was bothering her. It was November, so it was probably to do with Ronald. It seemed the two of them got into a new fight every year. I was tempted to intervene and get them together, finally, but I doubted anything I did would help considering the people involved. Both were dense in their own ways, particularly when it came to emotions.

"Alright, spill. What is it that's bothering you so much? Did you and Ronald start you yearly fight? Are you worried about Harry again? What?"

"Well… Harry has been kind of annoying this year. He's convinced that Malfoy is a Death Eater and that he was behind Katie getting cursed. He's also convinced that Malfoy is up to something nefarious. I've told him time and again that Malfoy is only 16, there's no way that he's a Death Eater yet. Then there is the usual stuff about Snape being evil and unfair, he won't tell me what he does in his lessons with Dumbledore, and he has that damn book!"

"What book?" I was used to Hermione's rants at this point, having been subjected to many of them in the last few years. They usually centered around Harry and Ronald, it was a good source of information if anything else. At least, it was once you filtered out the complaints.

"He has this potions book. It has notes written in the margins, it's how he brewed so well in the first class. He's cheating, and not only that, but there are spells in the book as well. We don't even know who's book it is, or what the spells do! All I know is that there is something _evil_ about it. The previous owner seems like a supremacist." I wondered how she would be able to tell that based on some notes in the margins.

"If you don't know who wrote the notes, how do you know what the previous owner is like? Do the notes give that much away?"

"No, it's the name scribbled in the front cover. The notes are actually really helpful for brewing. It was probably their book in school or something."

"What was the name?"

" _The Half-Blood Prince._ It sounds so pompous. _"_ I froze at the name. I _recognized_ that name. Severus Snape, son of Eileen _Prince_ , his father was a muggle, thus making him a half-blood in a world of purebloods. That name had been scribbled into one of the journals that he had given me at the beginning of my first year.

I never mentioned it before, thinking it was some kind of tactic to keep others from finding out who's journal it was. While Snape wasn't _fundamentally_ bad, though his manner needed work and he was socially maladjusted, in his younger years he was trying to fit in with a bunch of Death Eaters at the height of the war. This was a sixth-year potions book, by that point he was already a Death Eater or about to be one.

Hermione was right. Those spells were likely not safe.

"Make sure Harry doesn't use any of those spells." Especially on someone like Draco, I added silently. Even if Hermione didn't hate him quite as much, there was no love lost between them.

"Have you ever known Harry to do as he's told?" She asked.

"Damn…"

"Anyway, aside from that, Ron and I _did_ have a fight. Harry pretended to slip Ron the Felix Felicis yesterday morning to boost his confidence about the match. I told Harry it was cheating, Ron thought I didn't believe in him even though I confounded McLaggen so he could get on the team in the first place. He got angry and we fought.

"Then, at the after-party, Harry showed me the full vial of potion and I was going over to apologize and congratulate Ron, when _Lavender Brown_ walks up and _snogs_ him in the _middle of the room_. He did _nothing_ to push her away either! He just kissed her back, like a _pig_!

"He was supposed to be my date to the Slug Club party, but if he's dating Lavender, he can't take me. Who am I supposed to go with now?"

"Well, you could always go-" Hermione didn't appear to be done, only pausing for a breath before she continued.

"Then I ran out of the room, because I was angry with Ron, and sat in an empty classroom. I was crying, and Harry came to comfort me, he's got it into his head that I like Ron, and I guess I do, but that's not the point. Then we hear giggling and Ron and Lavender burst into the room, still kissing by the way.

"They broke apart and saw us. Lavender made some stupid comment and they were leaving when Ron made a comment about me looking upset. Moron.

"I sent that spell, the avis one with the birds? I sent that at him and he called me mental before running after her. Harry comforted me, he gets it. He has a _massive_ crush on Ginny and she's all over Dean." I just kept looking at Hermione, waiting for a sign that she was done her rant. She didn't look like she was about to cry, so there was that.

"How is it that you were in a win-win situation and you _still_ lost?" I asked when she seemed to be getting desperate for a response.

"What?"

"Ronald has liked you since fourth year when you went to the ball with Krum. I know because he spent the whole time grumbling about it to Harry and, by extension, me. If you'd _told_ Ronald about McLaggen after it happened, he would've snogged _you_. If you'd paid more attention at breakfast or actually asked Harry if he really slipped Ronald the potion, the fight could've been resolved quicker and you could've been the one snogging him in the middle of the room. Win-win. But you did neither and now he's dating the slut of sixth year. Lose. I'm sorry Hermione, but grow a social-brain. I know you're book-smart but you need to learn to be people-smart or you won't get anywhere. Knowing information is only 25% of the equation, the other 75% is all people."

"Well, that's a little presumptuous."

"Hermione, I get that you didn't want to make the first move, believe me, I understand, but Ronald is… well Ronald is an idiot. If you want him, make it as obvious as a bull in a china shop. Don't let Lavender Brown win here. You're still his best friend, you know him better than she does. It may take time, but you can win him back."

"How am I supposed to do that?" She seemed skeptical, but she was listening at least.

"Flirt. And _not_ with him. Make him jealous. Make him notice you in any way you can, even if it's anger. Show Brown who he belongs to." I paused, looking at her stunned face. "Think of it like a test. First, you need to learn the material. Get to know everything you can about Lavender and Ron. Their relationship, their friends, their strengths and weaknesses.

"Second, study and revise. Make a plan. Go over what you know and get a plan of action that will work. Finally, take the test. Put your plan in action and get your man. It's really simple."

"Is that what you're doing with the twins?" Hermione asked with a sly look on her face. She still looked a little hesitant, but I could already see her plotting.

"No. I don't need to. They broke up with their girlfriends without any help from me. Besides, I doubt they are interested in me. I'm not entirely sure I'm interested in them. Plus, I _am_ their weakness, I'm the one who knows them best, I'm their friend, and I'm the one they confide in. If I wanted them? They'd be mine before they even knew what happened." I didn't tell her that the same could be said about them towards me. It was a mutual bond, equal give and take on both sides. They gave information as freely as I did.

"I have to admit, that's actually pretty impressive."

"Thanks, I did it by accident." Hermione bowed her head, her shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

"You're impossible."

"Yup. Now, about Harry. You need to find a way to convince him to get rid of that book and tell you, everything. Not just about his lessons with Dumbledore, but _everything_. The prophecy, the trip to see Slughorn, his lessons, and his own thoughts about everything. Then you need to tell me so we can come up with a plan of action."

"Do you think he's right about Draco being a Death Eater? I mean he's only 16, they wouldn't recruit kids, would they?"

"I don't know for certain Hermione. My housemate aren't exactly open books on a good day. Draco has been through a lot of bad days recently by the looks of things. As for them recruiting kids… aren't we doing that? Dumbledore is training Harry for a fight he will probably have to fight in the next three years, at most. I'm already a part of the Order, and so are the twins. You and Ronald are being conditioned just as much as Harry is, considering your willingness to die for him, and the DA is basically an Order of the Phoenix training camp. Dumbledore knew about it and did nothing.

The chances that Voldemort is recruiting kids are pretty high. In Harry's words, they're evil." Hermione nodded, but still seemed rather skeptical. I didn't blame her, I wasn't fully convinced either, and I didn't believe there was a good and bad side of things. Just different ideals and ways of doing things. That wasn't to say that I agreed with the other side's ideals, but I wouldn't call them evil… necessarily.

Blaise and I were the only ones from Slytherin attending Slughorn's Christmas party. The girls in the dorm were tittering about how unfair it was that they couldn't attend. I stood from my bed, where I had been trying to read, and went to the trunk at the end of my bed. The sooner I was ready the sooner I could leave the dorm.

I removed the bag that contained the designer dress I had ordered by owl post. It was a knee length, blood-red dress, with rhinestones in a slightly darker shade around the collar styled neck line. It had an empire waist and a flared skirt. The sleeves were more like thick straps than actual sleeves. All in all, I was happy with my choice and hoped it screamed unapproachable to anybody who thought they should talk to me tonight. It wasn't Slytherin green, but that could be excused since it was still a Christmas color.

"Are you going to the Christmas party?" Tracy asked with surprise flickering across her perfectly painted face.

"No, I just figured I would put on a nice dress and sit here to read all night." I stated as I entered the bathroom to change. I would be wearing thigh-high black stockings and a pair of silver Louis Vuitton's. When I emerged wearing my dress, stockings, and heels, the girls were all looking at me.

"Who asked you to go to the party?" Pansy had a sneer on her face as she asked, equal amounts repulsed and curious.

"Slughorn." All three of the girls looked disgusted, I rolled my eyes. "I was invited as a member of Slug Club? He asked me to join on the first week of school and I accepted. Any other questions or can we go back to ignoring each other? I think I liked it more than I do this."

"Who are you taking as your date?" Pansy asked, a manic gleam in her eyes. She was probably looking for fresh meat.

"I'm not. I'm going alone."

"Did everyone say no then?" Tracy sneered at me.

"I didn't ask anyone to go with me. I have my own reasons for going alone, before you ask, and no I won't be telling you." I sat in front of the mirror I'd conjured on my bed to do my hair and makeup. I decided to go minimalistic for the night. With my wand, I curled my hair into big ringlets before pulling it back into a high pony tail. I applied black eye-shadow and maroon lipstick. I put a cuff bracelet that Sirius had given me from the Black family vault on my left wrist and cast a tempus charm. It was just about time for me to leave so I stood from my bed and adjusted my dress one last time. With my shoulders back and my head raised, I left the dorm and began the trek to the party, ignoring the eyes that followed me out of the Slytherin common room.

When I arrived, the party was already in full swing since I stopped at the kitchens on the way there. The house elves had been cooking for the party all day, they deserved a thank you at the very least. I surveyed the room the second I entered and spotted Neville with a serving tray, Harry and Luna dancing, and Hermione looking uncomfortable with Cormac McLaggan. I would've laughed if I could. Neither Harry, nor Hermione, looked very happy or comfortable with their dates. Harry looked confused about whatever Luna was talking about. A common occurrence, really.

"Miss. Moon, so happy you could make it!" Slughorn greeted with a cheerful voice. I was still standing in the doorway, and a glance back told me Blaise and his date were in their way down the hall.

"Thank you for the invitation."

"I see you came alone tonight. Nothing wrong with that, not at all. Especially for someone of your standing, probably have a marriage contract to abide by, don't you?" He didn't seem to be looking for an answer, but I saw understanding bloom on several nearby faces. It was impossible to come alone to one of these things and not be noticed. "Well, no matter, we can find you someone to act as escort for the night. In fact, I have the perfect person. He waved over a woman that looked to be just a few years older than Remus and Sirius. She stood in front of me with a pinched face and a severe expression.

"Slughorn." She nodded in greeting to the two of us.

"Madam Andromeda Tonks, this is Miss. Lily Moon." My eyes shot to the woman. Tonks… as in Nymphadora?

"A pleasure Miss. Moon." She said with a small smile lifting the corners of her lips.

"To you as well Madame Tonks."

"Miss. Moon has not secured a date for evening; would you mind terribly being her escort?"

"It would be a pleasure. Shall we Miss. Moon?"

"Please, call me Lily, Madam Tonks."

"Then I must insist you call me Andromeda." I nodded as she hooked her arm with mine and led us away from the Professor.

"Forgive me for the question, but does your maiden name happen to be Black?" I asked, hoping there wasn't several Andromeda Tonks's running around the wizarding world.

"As a matter of fact, it is. I notice that you have a bracelet from the family vaults on your wrist. Forgive my question but where _did_ you acquire it?"

"It was a gift given to me from my… guardian last Christmas. I believe you and he have much in common."

"Sirius then?" She whispered. "I thought I recognized the name, you know my daughter as well then?"

"Yes, she is a pleasure to be around."

"From what she's said, you are quite the interesting enigma yourself."

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. I am just one of the snakes. Though I understand you are as well."

"Just one of the snakes indeed. If you'll forgive my informality, why _don't_ you have a date this evening? I recall her mentioning a Zabini in your acquaintance."

"I didn't ask anyone to come with me. Forgive the bluntness, but the Slytherin's are mostly Death Eaters or supporters, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws run at the sight of me and those who don't are insufferable, and the Gryffindors… well the less thought about that the better considering current company. As for Blaise, he secured a date before wondering if I needed one. He offered to escort me instead, but I insisted he keep his word to her."

"Well, I can't disagree with that logic. I remember what it was like when I was in Slytherin, and I was still a Black at the time. Of course, now they call me a blood traitor and have blasted me off my family tree. All the better in my opinion, considering who the other occupants are." I nodded and gave another glance around the room. Hermione was slipping behind a curtain with a disgusted look and McLaggan was looking around the room for her. Luna was standing awkwardly with Harry on the side of the room. I smiled slightly.

"See a friend?" She asked with amusement, likely seeing the same things I had.

"A few, they are quite amusing to watch when out in the social circles." She let out a small huff of amusement and turned to look at me. We talked about the social etiquette that we thought was outdated for an hour when she was called from across the room to speak with another guest, she rolled her eyes and left my side for the first time that evening. I found that, without my conversation partner, I felt slightly out of place in the party. It wasn't the high society party that I was used to, nor was it the crazy party that the twins, Sirius, Remus, and I had had over the summer.

After the commotion with Draco, I noticed Harry slipping out behind them, trying to be sneaky. He wasn't very good at it _and_ he was ditching Luna. I walked over to alert her to this fact, and that she could probably leave. She refused, having fun watching the mistletoe for some creature or another.

I too left, making my exit much quieter than Harry had. I only caught the tail end of Snape's reaming of Draco, but with the other information I knew, it all kind of pieced together. I managed to slip by Harry without being noticed and Snape stormed away before he even looked in my direction. Draco was a different story. He saw me walking away from the scene and likely heard the clicking of my heels on the cobblestone. I wasn't really trying to hide, just be unobtrusive.

"Moon." He nodded to me in acknowledgement but said nothing more about keeping quiet or anything. Against my better judgement, I walked up to him and mimicked his actions from last year. I dragged him by the wrist in the direction of an empty classroom only a floor away. I also managed to avoid getting caught by Filch by giving Mrs. Norris a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ears. Once I'd sealed the door behind me I turned to face the boy that was falling from grace.

"Well, your life has gone to hell." I commented, giving a quick flick to clear the surface of the teacher's desk that had been stashed away of dust and hopping up.

"Women shouldn't swear." Was his only response to that.

"Get fucked." He blinked, I smirked.

"What do you want Moon?" He seemed resigned more than anything, and he still said nothing about the conversation he knew I overheard. It was like he was trying to get caught.

"I want to know why _you_ are throwing your life, and status, away for nothing."

"Nothing? Are you kidding me? My father just got arrested for being a Death Eater, and I'm fairly certain everyone has suspicions that I'm one as well!"

"Even if you are, the rest of our house doesn't seem to mind it. They'd prefer it in fact."

"That's not the point! I was given the task of killing the Headmaster and I didn't even want to be a Death Eater in the first place! And it's all my father's fault!" His eyes went wide when he realized what he'd just admitted. That made sense. I supposed Snape would end up doing the deed, but I _did_ know that Dumbledore had to know about it and had likely orchestrated the deal.

"Well, that does seem tedious. Though it is a good move I suppose."

"You don't understand, do you? This is all a game to Him, to _them_! A _sick twisted game_ that they play for their own amusement. In the end it won't matter who wins or loses because, either way, the world's going to hell."

"Oh no, you misunderstand. I realize this is a game. But, what made you think, for even a second, that they were the only players? Nobody ever expects the person that nobody notices. People only really notice the people who are _bad_ at playing the game."

"What side are you on?" He asked, an odd look in his eyes. He didn't seem fully convinced about what side he was on himself.

"The only really important question here is what side are _you_ on?"

"You still don't understand. I don't have a choice."

"So unwillingly dark. You know, this war actually has many more sides than you might think. It's not a two dimensional object. You can be on one of the two main sides, but there are others as well. Neutral, unwilling dark, unwilling light, undecided, light but supporting the dark, and dark but supporting the light. No matter what side, the others will have a reason to kill you. Hell, your own probably does as well. No matter where I stand I would be killed. What you need to do, is decide whether you would rather die for something you believe in, or not."

"They're threatening her." He whispered, staring at the floor.

"Then you've already made your choice. That doesn't mean you need to stay there forever."

"Are you trying to convince me to change sides?" He looked almost hopeful.

"Why would I waste time doing that? What even makes you think I have any reason to do that?"

"You… are a mystery." He had a small smile on his face. I wasn't surprised, he seemed like the type that liked puzzles.

"So long as I stay one. Nobody ever comes to the third floor. The girls bathroom is abandoned, but there is some good company. This classroom is usually empty as well. Make use of it when you need to get away from people. But Draco, at least hesitate before you make a decision you can't undo." I turned and left the confused boy to his own devices. No doubt I would be hearing all of Harry's theories over or after Christmas break.

Fred and George were both pissed when they got back to Grimmauld after Christmas dinner. Percy had shown up, being used as a pawn for the Minister to get close to Harry. They had thrown food at their brother.

While I sympathized with their plight, I also understood Percy's. He was a proud person, not socially well developed, and always felt like the odd one out compared to his brothers. He had that fight with his father and sent back the Christmas sweater, probably thinking it was a pity present, and was officially estranged from his family.

Now, all he _had_ was his career. To do anything he could in order to advance it was understandable.

I showed them my support anyway. Comforting them and spending hours up in my room listening to them complain about and insult their older brother. I pulled up my muggle roots and brought up cookie dough and ice cream to comfort their damaged souls. Remus and Sirius brought out the alcohol and the four men drank the good fire whiskey in honor of the Holiday Season.

The next morning, when the twins were regretting their night of drinking, I told them everything I thought of their older brother. I didn't want them to write him off completely, not yet. It would only hurt them if he didn't make it through the war.


	34. Year 6: Part IV

On the second day of classes after break, I was leaving an uneventful potions class when I noticed Harry hanging behind. I slipped out of the class and pressed myself close enough to the wall to hear the conversation going on inside. I feigned tying my shoe for all the other students walking the corridor. Once Harry had left, looking quite unimpressed, I emerged from my hiding place. I had a new focus now.

Horcruxes… what the hell were those? And why was Harry wondering about them? He never cared about extra studies, he wouldn't start now and even if he did, Slughorn wasn't the person to ask. This had a Dumbledoreian feel to it. I charged straight to the library, using my free period to get some research done.

A cursory glance showed that there was no information for the general population. That meant that these… things, were either dangerous, dark, illegal, or rare; possibly all three.

With a glance to see if anybody was watching, I snuck into the Restricted Section. Yet again there was nothing on Horcruxes in the registry. That usually meant one of two things. Either they were too dark to be mentioned in a place of learning, or they were only mentioned in rare texts. The Black family library was my best chance for either. I couldn't exactly send a letter asking about it though, that might be intercepted and give away the plot. That meant I would need to wait until break, or the next Hogsmeade weekend… which was cancelled.

Great.

Apparition lessons were a joke. It was basically an hour a week of the guy saying to visualize your destination and hope you don't splinch yourself on the way there. Apparently, that was difficult for some people since there were plenty of injuries each class. I practiced once each class, and aside from the nauseating feeling, I was successful. Ronald was not, which was greatly amusing.

When I heard that Ronald was in the Hospital Wing because he was dosed with love potion, brought to the incompetent Slughorn, poisoned, and saved by a bezoar and Harry's quick thinking, I almost laughed.

The love potion was one of the things the twins and I debated on about putting in the store. In the end we did put them out, much less powerful than normal, but not harmful. The fact that Harry took Ronald to Slughorn was his first mistake. Love potion was best to just let it wear off (trapping the one inflicted in a dorm was your best bet). Only amortentia needed an antidote and even then, the effects were completely different.

I recognized my product's symptoms when they were described. A spacey personality, not being able to stop talking about the other person, heart eyes, they were all part of WWW's version. With amortentia the inflicted party would be much worse. They would go find the person and not just moon over them.

Then the idea that he was fixed and then poisoned again because of Slughorn offering him something he probably shouldn't have been offering. Finally, Harry saving him with a bezoar. That was no doubt straight from the potions book with the notes in the margin, but it was also pretty common knowledge and a huge risk. While it was true that it worked with most poisons, when it didn't work it was often detrimental and, in some cases, deadly.

The best thing to come of the whole incident, aside from the amusement, was that the Weasley's had all come to visit Ronald. I went to the Hospital Wing during lunch, seeing as the Weasley family was there, along with Harry, Hermione, Lavender, Snape, and Dumbledore. Lavender had shoved Hermione aside, claiming her spot at his hand as his girlfriend. Hermione looked over to see me and I raised my eyebrow with a small shake of my head. Hermione grinned and in a matter of moments she was holding Ronald's hand and Lavender had run past me on the way out. I walked over to glance at Ronald.

"Well, isn't this a conundrum." I said with heavy sarcasm. Sue me, I'm emotionally constipated.

"Miss. Moon, I wasn't aware you were close with young Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore stated with some annoyance seeping into his carefully controlled tone.

"I am not." I assured him with the most disgusted look I could make. Luckily, I was forced to suffer Pansy's company and had plenty of material to copy from.

"Then may I suggest you go to lunch or your common room?" He stated.

"You may not." I walked next to Hermione and held out my fist. She raised hers to bump mine with a small smile. "I see you took my advice." This got some confused looks and seemed hesitant for a few moments before she grew confident once more.

"It was good advice, you don't give yourself enough credit. Out loud anyway." She said with a grin.

"What advice?" Snape asked with a suspicious glare.

"Oh, just some… gardening that needed to be done." Snape rolled his eyes and left the Hospital Wing with a significant glance at Dumbledore, who followed him after a quick goodbye.

"Gardening, huh? We didn't know you liked to garden." Fred said with a little grin. Charlie and Bill mostly looked confused still.

"Oh, I don't… though sometimes it is necessary to pull a few flowers to make room for something better."

"Something better? Like something Shakespearean?"

"If that's what you like, then that's what you like. Besides, purple doesn't go with red." George and Fred both started laughing as Hermione blushed. The rest of the room seemed lost, but Harry had understanding in his eyes.

"What are you three talking about?" Bill finally asked.

"Oh, nothing. Say, Bill, where is Fleur? I would've loved to meet her. I didn't get a chance during the Triwizard Tournament. I tried to avoid all the exchange students since they kept asking me to go out with them."

"What?" Charlie asked in surprise, "Is that why you were in the forest?"

"No. I go into the forest all the time. That had nothing to do with it. I think I was visiting the centaurs that night…"

"Well, she remembers you, or at least hearing about you. She had to work today."

"Ah, well, you should bring her by when you get the chance. Either at Grimmauld or the twin's apartment, I'm usually at one of the two. Plus, it would give me a chance to use the French that has been drilled into my brain for years."

"Will do…"

"If you're not here to see my Ronnikins, then why are you here?" I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing at the nickname. It was so _good_.

"Call it moral support."

"For who?"

"Myself. I haven't seen the twins in far to long. Plus I need to tell them all about Hermione's date to Slughorn's party."

"Oh, god. Please don't." Hermione shivered in disgust. I gave her a pat on the shoulder and moved away from the bed. I looked at Harry and saw that he had his thinking face on. Probably thinking about Draco again. From my spot in-between the twins, I nudged them each in the side and motioned to the other side of the room.

"Can you two do me a favor?"

"That's a stupid question."

"Okay, can you keep this favor a secret from everyone?"

"We can do our best."

"I need a guarantee."

"Okay, we will keep it a secret. What do you need?"

"I need you to find everything you can on Horcruxes. They may be extremely dark magic, or dangerous, or illegal. I don't know what they are yet."

"Than why do you _want_ to?"

"Good question." I looked over my shoulder at Harry. "I overheard Harry asking Slughorn about it. I think Dumbledore knows what they are and has sent Harry to get something from Slughorn about them. Just find what you can and stockpile it until I can meet up with you again. It probably won't be until Easter."

"Okay, but whatever plan you come up with?"

"We're involved." I nodded to their conditions, and they went back over to their family as I left the wing.

A week later was a quidditch match. McLaggan was filling in for Ronald since he was still in the Hospital Wing for another three days. The only reason I went at all was to listen to Luna's commentary on the match. It was worth it and almost made the biting cold and terrible entertainment worth sitting through. This was why Luna was my friend.

"It appears that wackspurts have taken route in the brain of the chaser for Ravenclaw, seeing how badly he just fouled." These comments continued for the entire game and when everyone was leaving I heard McGonagall mutter about how she missed Lee Jordan. I waited for Luna and we went to the forest to feed the thestrals and catch up. I didn't get to spend much time with Luna this year, she was busy studying for her OWLs. I missed my quirky friend.

The entire Weasley family was staying at Grimmauld for the Easter holidays again. Hermione and Harry were as well. Fleur was absent again, mostly do to Molly's dislike of the woman and the fact that she was going back to France for the holiday to spend time with her little sister. This made _me_ the prime target for off-hand comments for the duration of the break.

Luckily, I had a reprieve. I spent much of the break in the library with the twins and Blaise, researching horcruxes. And wondering what sick fuck created the first one.

From what we gathered, they were extremely dark and nefarious objects. Pieces of soul purposefully broken off to preserve and revitalize the human body. If that description wasn't enough, then the minimal instructions were. All I 'wanted' to remember was that they were created through a murder and a ritual. The twins and I had been suitably disgusted when we read what the ritual entailed, Blaise less so since he grew up learning this kind of thing from his father. It only took three days to get as much information on them as we could and combine and cross check it.

"Well, that sounds evil. And just a bit not good." I stated once I had read over the amassed information for the last time, committing it to memory.

"Just a bit?" George asked, a look of disgust fixed on his normally happy face. I pushed notes towards them and Blaise took great relish in destroying them beyond measure.

"Well, at least we know how to destroy them… is destroy the right word? Maybe kill would be better."

"I would say kill. It is a piece of soul." Fred answered.

"Please, don't remind me." George whispered, I nodded as well.

"Are you going to tell Harry all of this?" Blaise asked.

"I should… the problem is that he hasn't approached me for information, none of them have. I don't think Harry has told Hermione about all of this yet. I don't think he will for a little while either. When he needs the information I will think of telling Hermione everything I know. I can't tell Harry, he still has that connection with Voldy. It's just not smart."

"We can understand that." The twins agreed.

"Dinner!" Molly called from what sounded like the kitchen. I was thankful that the soundproof glass had held over Mrs. Black's portrait. The four of us gleefully ran to the kitchen. We didn't have a large appetite after what we'd just read, but we would take any reason to get out of that room at the moment.

Dinner went surprisingly without fanfare. Sure Molly's comments were annoying, but Blaise and Sirius were subjected to them too. It had turned into a game of who would get angry first. So far, Sirius was losing and I was winning because of how amusing it was to watch him get angry and not be able to do anything about it, lest he forfeit.

"Well, maybe if Lily would help out, this place would be cleaner." Molly was saying when I finished a conversation with Blaise and tuned back into the general conversation of the table.

"Fuck you, leave me alone. I'm a evil Slytherin, remember? Hiss." I glared at the woman, but my words weren't spoken in anger, nor in jest. She seemed to take offense at the language I used, but that was about it. Besides, it was partially my house, if I didn't want it clean that was my own perogative. "Besides, that's what Kreature is for."

"Humph." Hermione drew my attention, her face red from refraining from saying anything. I smiled a little and looked at my empty plate, an idea forming.

"Kreature!" I called with a snap of my fingers. The old elf arrived in short time with a bow.

"Yes Mistress? What can Kreature do for you?" The old elf asked.

"Can you take my dishes and clean them for me? Anybody else done with their dishes?"

"I am." Sirius said with a grin, clearly catching on.

"Us too." Fred and George chimed in. Kreature nodded and collected all five place settings, taking Blaise's after he nodded. He popped them back to the kitchen and faced me again.

"Is that be all Mistress?"

"Hmm… I suppose so. I'll be sure to call you if I need anything else." Hermione was outright glaring at me now and Bill and Charlie were trying to refrain from laughing, having been filled in on the situation.

"Thank yous, oh Great Honor to the Ancient and Noble House of Black."

"Of course Kreature, anything for one of my elves." Kreature disappeared with a large grin and a cheerful grunt. Remus was shaking from controlling his laughter. Hermione stood and stormed away from the table, leaving the rest of her food behind. Once the door had closed, most everyone was laughing. Molly, Harry, Ron, and Ginny being the only ones to not. Arthur was chuckling quietly, but stopped under the glare of his wife. The other three seemed to have taken offence on Hermione's behalf.

"How could you do that? You know Hermione's views on house elves and their treatment." Ginny exclaimed. I rolled my eyes and yelled for Hermione to come back. She did so hesitantly.

"Kreature." The house elf appeared again and Hermione almost turned to walk away. "Can you please inform the table of your thoughts on me and your work as my elf? I would like you to use complete honesty and not leave out anything that could be subjectable to interpretation."

"Of course Mistress. I like Missus Moon and Mister Zamboni." I snorted and Blaise glared at me. He never should've told me that story. "They is the only persons that bes in the same house as Master Regulus. She's be teaching me more as well and helping me with manners. She also be much more polite than Sirius and the _werewolf_. She don't ask for enough though and that be a small issue. I needs more work. If I have no work I go back to the cave with Master… I don't like the cave…" Kreature shivered and I held out my hand in a gesture of 'you see' for Hermione. She looked contemplative.

"Kreature, why don't you go clean up the library. We put all the books away again, but there is still a little bit of a mess at the table. I also think that the attic needs to be cleaned, if you want something to do." Kreature bowed and popped away. I looked at Hermione. "They may be treated poorly, but that doesn't mean they don't _want_ to work."

"But… what about Dobby and Winky?"

"Winky became an alcoholic when she was freed by her master. As for Dobby… well, think of him like me. He's the odd one out and nobody really feels comfortable around him. Also, just because he is like he is, doesn't mean anybody else will act as he does." Hermione left the room again. I stood and followed her out. It was going to be a girls night, Ginny was free to join us if she got over herself. I intercepted Hermione and dragged her to my room for the night.

I exited the Great Hall after my apparation test with a license to show for it. Ronald, on the other hand, had failed by half an eyebrow. I found this insanely funny. Hermione also passed with flying colors, which was no surprise to anyone. As I was walking away, Harry stopped me and asked me to meet the three of them in an empty classroom the next day after Charms. I wondered what he wanted to talk to me about, but figured it had something to do with needing information what with the way he kept looking over his shoulder.

The next day I entered the empty classroom ten minutes after Charms ended. The other three were waiting impatiently.

"Hello, why am I here?" I asked, cutting straight to the chase. Blaise and I had plans to study after I was done with this meeting.

"I have some things to explain to the three of you. Dumbledore told me not to tell anyone I didn't trust explicitly. But I trust you, now sit." I raised an eyebrow, Harry shouldn't trust anyone without question. I know I didn't. And he certainly shouldn't trust me, I'd given him no reason to.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, a gentle hand on his shoulder. She was ignoring Ronald for the time being. Ronald had broken up with Lavender yesterday, but she wasn't going to move in yet. That would look bad, as I'd told her when she mentioned it last night at our meeting. It would also make it apparent who caused them to split.

"Dumbledore told me why fighting Voldemort would be so complicated, why we couldn't _just_ fight him. The lessons he's been giving me are just us watching his memories of Voldemort as a student." _Just_? What did this guy want, to learn how to use the force against him? "His name was Tom Riddle, he went here in the forties. He's a _half-blood_ and he can't feel love because he was conceived under the effects of a love potion. Dumbledore told me that the power I needed to defeat him, according to the prophesy, is love."

"Can you tell me the prophesy? I have never actually heard it." I asked, Hermione and Ronald looked thoughtful, but accepting of the idea, I was not. Love was an emotion, a driving force sure, but still an emotion. To defeat a person is to make them overrun by emotions of various forms, not to be overrun by them. It was a fanciful idea that was going to get Harry slaughtered. Then again… that may be what Dumbledore was planning on doing, unfortunate as that was.

" _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies_." I stared at Harry for a few moments, digesting the prophesy.

 _This_ was the prophesy that made him the chosen one? The power, apparently love, was going to defeat the Dark Lord. Hmmm…

"Love, huh? That's interesting." I had a small thought in my mind. I'd heard part of this somewhere before. Was it the prophesy? Did I hear part of it in the Ministry? No, that wasn't it… well, if I did I didn't hear enough of it. Did I overhear part of it at an Order meeting? No, Dumbledore only ever said that there _was_ one that indicated Harry, not what the wording was.

The only thing that I could connect it to was the feeling I'd had a few weeks ago when Bane had given me the amulet of the forest and what… oh.

"Yeah, I thought it was kind of odd at first, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Voldemort _can't feel_ love, and probably can't feel remorse. If I use that to my advantage when fighting him, than I can defeat him." There was something at least. Probably not what Dumbledore was referring to, but plausible enough to make sense.

"Does everything I say to you just go right through your ears and into the abyss? Never use emotion when dueling, it is motivation, that is all." Even if it was plausible, it still wasn't going to help when dueling the guy. He would see the weakness and exploit it. Probably by killing the ones Harry loved.

"Maybe _she_ was born under the effects of an _emotion_ potion." Ronald stated with a sneer. Harry rolled his eyes.

"This came from Dumbledore. _Greatest Wizard of the_ _Century_ , ringing any bells?" Harry asked. I glared at him.

"Fine, do what you wish, but when you get into a duel and allow your emotions to take over and you do something you wish you hadn't? Don't forget that I warned you and so it is _all on you_ and you _alone_. Dumbledore may be powerful, but that doesn't mean he is infallible." I stood and walked from the room. Hermione was saying something, probably in reference to Ronald's comment. It didn't bother me, not really. I was used to comments like that by this point. By now they were just uninventive.

A week later Harry was looking paler than ever at breakfast. He was looking incredibly guilty and almost seemed to be scared. I had my suspicions as to why. Draco had been brought to the Hospital Wing after nearly being killed in a duel. Snape had come across him in time to save him and had refused to mention who he'd been dueling with. Harry's complexion gave me a pretty good idea. He caught my eye and I motioned to the hall with a tilt of the head.

"Are you ready to listen to me now, or do you need to almost kill another person first?" Harry had his head down, but he nodded. "Good. Start by learning to control yourself and getting rid of that book. Cheating in potions isn't going to be helpful when you become an auror and don't _actually_ know the difference between a love potion and a lust potion. Then go back and think of all that wisdom and help I've already given you. Stop trusting people explicitly, and start judging people based on actions, not on affiliations and chance encounters. You may find you have more allies than you thought. Finally, don't be a fucking sheep for Dumbledore, or anyone for that matter, to control. It's pathetic and not helpful to your personal growth and development." I left him staring at the cobblestones to get to work. "And quit being _so damn impulsive_." I threw over my shoulder. I wondered if he would listen this time. I hoped so.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	35. Year 6: Part V

Hermione ran in to the kitchens, looking for me, about a month after the Malfoy vs. Potter duel. The fact that she had entered the kitchen said a lot about what might be happening.

"Lily! Harry just left with Dumbledore, but he said to watch the map for Malfoy because he went into the Room of Requirement and Harry thinks whatever he's working on is done. He and Dumbledore went to get a horcrux, which I get the feeling you know about. Also, I think he was right because he gave us the felix felicius and I suddenly got the feeling that I needed to come get you and decided to try the kitchens!" She took in a huge glup of air. I stared at her for a few moments of contemplation. She wasn't wrong. Draco _was_ likely done with whatever he was working on, time was running out after all.

"Okay, go and do what Harry instructed you to do. Someone should be waiting outside the Room of Requirement to see what Draco was planning. I doubt it's a surprise party, but I already know something that you don't. I can't say what so don't ask. I'm going to go and contact Sirius and the rest of the Order. I need to go to my common room for that though, so we need to separate." Hermione left and I turned to Barney. "Keep an eye on all students who end up fighting. What I warned you about is happening. Don't get involved, but help where you can." The elf nodded seriously and turned to begin ordering his subordinates.

I raced through the halls, figuring that the professors would forgive me just this once. I arrived to see the common room deserted of younger Slytherins and crowded with the older generation. Well, minus Draco. I looked at them all and they looked at me. I ignored

them and went up to my dorm. Grabbing the piece of paper that was connected to one at Grimmauld, I wrote a message. Hogwarts was going to be under attack in less than an hour.

I wandered down the stairs once more, dressed in a pair of black slim fitting jeans and a green tank top. My wand was holstered on my thigh, invisible to those that looked for it. Eyes watched me as I walked to the door. Blaise stood up and began following me out.

"What should I do?" He whispered to avoid being heard by the others in the room. We had planned for this to an extent.

"Go help Pomphrey in the Hospital Wing. There will likely be injuries and she needs to be prepared and helped. You're better at healing than you are with dueling." He nodded and reached to open the door for me.

"Where are you going? Snape told us to stay in the common room." Pansy stated with a sneer.

"Oh, I thought I might get a little dueling practice in tonight." A few people glared, but most just looked confused.

"And I need to go to the Hospital Wing, just in case she hurts herself or someone else." Blaise stated with certainty. When we turned, Daphne was standing in front of the exit. I raised a brow at her attempt to stop us.

"You're not going anywhere." She said with little certainty. She was hesitant and scared, I could see it. Her eyes were darting between Blaise and I, fear ever-present and concern a close second. I looked at Blaise and raised an eyebrow. He seemed to understand because he raised his arms in surrender and walked towards an unoccupied armchair.

"Funny. I've never seen you at any of the meetings my father brought me to, Moon… in fact there was no mention of your name at all." Theodore stated with a suspicious glare. "And that's not even mentioning Zabini's newfound alliance with you." Blaise diverted his path and rounded on Nott. With one hand on Nott's shoulder and the other holding his wand to the boy's chest, he nodded at me to leave. Only one of us was getting out of here, what with the opposition in our way.

"Daphne. You're either on my side, by my side, or in my way. _Choose wisely_." The blonde looked at me for a measured moment, probably for appearance's sake if my assumptions of her situation were correct. With a heavy sigh, she moved and I opened the door. Peeves was floating just a few feet in front of it.

"Mistress Snake, leaving the common room after curfew! Student breaking the rules!" The poltergeist shrieked. I could practically feel Blaise rolling his eyes. He was upset that I got to be Mistess Snake and he was Zambini Zamboni.

"Say, my ghostly pal, you want to have some fun? You can't do that if you get me in trouble."

"This depends…"

"Follow me Peeves. Let's paint the town _red_." The poltergeist let out a gleeful laugh and followed me down the corridor and up to the main part of the castle. Due to my delay, the battle had already begun.

Death Eaters were in the castle and fighting students, DA members, Order members that had managed to get here, and professors. Snape was nowhere to be seen as of yet, but I seemed to be on the outskirts, not in the center where he was likely to be found.

I joined the fight headlong, my emotions behind me and my wand in front. I slashed and jabbed my wand with different defensive and offensive spells that Remus had been drilling into my head for the past few years. I ended up face to face with a nasty dick-bag, locked in a duel with him after taking down three of his comrades on my way over. He had been fighting against a student that couldn't be older than a third year, mostly just taunting thank god.

"Go back to your common room and stay there." I ordered the young girl. She nodded and ran in the direction I pointed. I began dueling the annoyed man with ease. It seemed he wasn't well versed in dueling techniques.

I was closer to the center of the fight now, so I could hear the hurling of spells only two halls away. With one final flick of my wand I dispatched of the idiot and tied him up like I had his comrades. I checked behind me to make sure the girl had made it to safety, I assumed she had since I couldn't see her. I did notice that Peeves was still following me.

"Sweet as sugar, hard as ice, hurt her once, she'll kill you twice! She puts the cute in execute, so you'd better watch out because she's no girl-scout!" Peeves was floating behind me, singing, as I entered the fray. I saw Remus glance in my direction after stunning one of the three Death Eaters he was fighting. He gave me a pleading, but defeated, look. I smiled and engaged one of the remaining two, helping him out a little.

A deep voice screamed in pain from a hall directly to my left. Remus took the Death Eater I was dueling off my hands once more, freeing me to go help whoever was in pain. I turned the corner and wished I had sent Remus. Fenrir Greyback was standing over a disarmed, unconscious, and bleeding Bill Weasley.

I shot a stunner at his turned back, hoping for the element of surprise, or to get him away from the Weasley at the very least. The stunner barely fazed the half-wolf, but it did turn his attention to me. We circled one another, neither wanting to send the first spell. I was small, agile, young, and entirely human. Only two of these things helped me.

My main goal was protecting Bill, not defeating Greyback. This meant defensive, not offensive. It also meant a higher probability of defeat. I tried to recall everything I'd heard about the beast in front of me, but I was sadly lacking in information. He was prolific, but everything I'd heard was about his victims or their injuries. He liked giving people wounds that would kill them or, if they managed to survive, turn them. That meant I had to stay out of reach and keep him distracted. It also meant I needed help.

"And who might _you_ be?" His voice had a terrifying tinge to it, but I didn't react.

"Not your victim…" I whispered, casting a spell at the torch he had ended up standing beside, causing the fire to shoot at him. I used the distraction to somersault over to Bill's side. Staying crouched in case I needed to move again. He rounded on me, a snarl arranging his face.

"You think you can defeat me?!" He growled. My next course of action was to get someone's attention. Noise. I needed noise. Remus had higher senses and they would be tuned up during a battle because of the adrenaline.

"No, but I am hoping I can distract you until someone else comes along." I told him. A grin formed on his face and a knot formed in my stomach. I didn't want to move too far from Bill, but I needed to stay away from Greyback. He was stepping closer and I figured I only had a few seconds before I needed to move.

"Oh, and why would you need someone to _help_?" He took another step forward, his wand lowering to his side as he noticed the hint of fear I couldn't hide.

"I'm not versed in fighting monsters." I said, not lowering my wand for even a second. I was not trembling in fear, I was not backing down. The only sign that I was afraid was the subtle shift of me feet as I prepared to flee.

He seemed almost impressed.

"I could turn you into something like me. A monster. The thing you and your kind hates." I raised a brow. Me and my kind?

"You can't turn someone into the kind of monster you are. That's something people do to themselves." I told him, thinking of the horror stories that my house mates had told with glee. Thinking of Remus the day after a full moon.

"My, my, when I make you my _bitch_ , I will need to teach you some manners. Perhaps giving you to my pack for a little 'play time'?" I repressed my shiver at his words, happy that he had stopped coming closer at the very least. Unfortunately, I was now stationed behind Bill instead of in front.

"Throw me to the wolves and I'll come home leading the pack." I told him bravely. It was funny, I didn't feel very brave when faced with the monster parents wouldn't dare threaten their kids with.

"Oh, you are a funny one." He twitched his hand and an unknown curse flew in my direction. I did the only thing I could think of. I conjured a mirror and a flock of birds.

The curse shattered the mirror instead of rebounding, but it was preferable to be sliced by glass than hit by whatever that curse was. Pain stung through me as the glass flew back and hit home. The birds were attacking his face and hands as he tried to bat them away. They were a distraction, not a defense.

"You seem to be an annoying one as well!" He shouted in annoyance.

Someone had to have heard that.

Seconds later, Remus was standing at the end of the hall, a wild look in his amber eyes. I grinned and let up the spell. As soon as I did I felt the familiar pull of a draining magical core. It was weird that I was weakening so quickly considering how much my core had expanded lately.

"Annoying I may be, but funny isn't the right word." I stated, my head held high as Remus began to walk down the hall, his wand trained on the massive man between us. Greyback didn't even notice the man he had turned into a wolf.

"You shouldn't have let up on that spell, _little lady_." I grinned and glanced behind him, waiting for the signal. Remus began casting curses and hexes at the monster, ones that he had never dared use against me in a duel. That was enough for me as Greyback responded in kind. It was a give and take between two powerful duelers. Remus was coaxing Greyback towards the battle proper, and, more importantly, away from me.

I grabbed Bill by his shoulders and dragged him into the secret alcove that was only a few feet away. Once he was safely ensconced I sent an augmenti at the blood on the floor to mask where we had gone, and then settled into the nook next to him. This alcove was my little secret, it wasn't on the Maurauder's map, which meant Remus wouldn't know about it and I never told the twins or Blaise about it.

I hovered over Bill, passed out from pain, blood loss, and likely a stunner, and wished that Remus had had the mind to teach me more healing spells. The only ones I knew wouldn't help much with this, so I needed to rely on containing the injury. Injuries, I corrected as I caught sight of a few slashes on his arm.

I conjured a tight splint on his arm so I could use the cloth from it as a compress. I needed to slow the bleeding on his face too, but I couldn't use the same trick since it would impact his breathing. Instead of doing anything to slow the bleeding on his face or to change the saturated cloth on his arm, I sat and stared in horror.

At first I listened in on the duel happening in the hall, but eventually it had drifted away to the point that I was forced to focus solely on Bill. I wouldn't be able to move him until after the battle was over. I wouldn't know if the battle was over until someone came looking for me. If I didn't do anything Bill would bleed to death. He was already extremely pale from blood loss and I was already covered in his blood.

At this point I really wished I was Blaise, he was so much better at healing spells. He was always talking about them, or other spells that could be used in magical healing. That gave me an idea…

I pointed my wand to the gashes on his face and cast a stasis spell on them. I stared at it, watching for any blood to seep from the wound, but none came. It had worked, now I just needed to deal with his arm and find a way to slow the bleeding on his face. A stasis was a very temporary fix.

I peeled the soaked cloth from his arm and winced at the loud plop it made when I tossed it aside on the floor. The only way I knew to stop or slow bleeding was pressure or stopping the blood from flowing. I conjured a new strip of cloth and lifted Bill's arm, placing it in my lap. I made quick work of tying the cloth tightly around the upper portion of his arm and conjuring more to hold to the would itself.

As I waited for the bleeding to slow and watched the facial injuries for any signs of the stasis wearing off, I thought about my options. I couldn't move until the battle was over, and even then, not without help from someone else. Even if I could muster up a levitation spell, which I couldn't, it was still a long way to the Hospital Wing.

The elves weren't safe, their apparition was bumpy and would aggravate the injuries and with how much blood he'd already lost, it could prove fatal. Remus would be helping Pomphrey if he wasn't injured himself. Sirius would be busy with Harry. Blaise was down in the dungeons. I needed to transmit the message, my need for help, and make sure whoever got it recognize the urgency.

"Expecto patronum." I whispered, removing one hand from holding the cloth down. Unfortunately, the reason my stasis hadn't faded became quite clear the second I cast the patronus charm. It was an ongoing spell cast. I shrieked in surprise as blood spurted out of his face and sprayed me. The patronus was standing next to me, nuzzling my arm, waiting for a message to deliver.

"Find Fred or George. Tell them to follow you and then lead them here. And hurry up!" I yelled as I was forced to turn back to my work. I conjured another piece of cloth and dropped my wand so I could hold it to his face.

I stared at Bill. I would admit I was scared. Terrified even. The last time I sat by someone as they bled out, he died. I couldn't let that happen the Bill. Ronan had accepted his death, embraced it even. Bill was just trying to protect the students and fight for what he believed in and he was cut down by a monster with a sadistic personality. I closed my eyes, I was beginning to feel a little dizzy and the sight of blood seeping through my fingers wasn't helping.

"Lily! Where are you?" Two voices called out, terror lining their voices. I had no strength to drag Bill out on my own and it would be harder getting him out than it had been getting him in, but I couldn't remove my hands.

"Hidden alcove! On the left!" I yelled, opening my eyes and watching the opening. Soon two red heads stood in front of me, staring at their brother in horror. "I need help." I whispered. Fred and George looked at one another for a moment before pulling their wands. Fred aimed for Bill and George for me.

"We're going to levitate you both out and down to the Hospital Wing."

"Make sure you don't separate us. I can't remove my hands or the bleeding will get worse. If you need to for any reason, the hand on his face is more important." I stated. They nodded and I felt the feeling of weightlessness before we were moved from the alcove very slowly. "We also need to hurry." I said as soon as we were free.

Remus was waiting at the doors to the Hospital Wing, holding them open once he caught sight of us. He stared me down as I was floated into the room. He wasn't the only one. The room was full of Order members and injured students caught trying to flee or fight for their school. Molly screamed in terror after catching sight of us and the other Weasley's were pale and staring. Everyone looked like they had been crying. The twins lowered Bill onto a bed but kept me floating over him so I didn't need to remove my hands. Shacklebolt and Sirius were there seconds later to take over for me and the twins levitated me to my own bed as soon as my hands were free.

"My wand." I whispered, realizing I left it on the floor in the alcove. Fred held it out of his pocket and placed it on the table next to my bed. Remus was by my side seconds later as Pomphrey rushed to Bill. "I'm okay, Remus. I'm not hurt." I whispered.

"Dumbledore…"

"Is dead. Snape killed him. Draco let the Death Eaters into the castle. Harry was there, but he's fine now because he didn't really take part in the fighting." I whispered, mostly guessing.

"How'd you know?" He whispered as he began siphoning the blood off of me and inspecting me for injuries.

"I… don't think now is the time to talk." He nodded and remained silent for a few moments.

"Barney?" The elf appeared in front of me and his eyes went wide at the sight of me.

"Is Missus Moon hurt?" He asked, wringing his hands in a worried manner.

"No, but there is some blood on the seventh floor in and around a hidden alcove. Can you remove it before morning? I don't want any of the other students to see it." The elf nodded and popped away again.

Pomphrey was still fussing and trying to look under the gauze without disturbing the injuries. Sirius was standing back now, staring at me with a concerned frown.

"His face is the worst. I used a stasis on it while I did what I could fro his arm. There is a tourniquet slowing the blood flow to his arm. It was Greyback, his claws in particular. The injury has been there for about… an hour and a half? He's lost a lot of blood. I had to drop the stasis I didn't know I was holding to cast the patronus and get help.

"I wasn't present when the injury happened, but he was already out when I got there only a minute or two after it. I think he was stunned, but I didn't want to wake him considering." I finished my explanation in a monotone voice, still feeling dizzy and tired. I was also feeling a little bit of pain now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

Remus was working on one of the deeper cuts on my forearm and Sirius was sitting with Harry and Hermione now. Ronald was sitting with Ginny and their parents, watching the proceedings in Bill's bed with a careful eye. The twins were doing the same from the end of my bed. Fleur wasn't here yet.

Everything began to wind down as Pomphrey stepped away from his face to tend to his arm. Soon enough Molly had taken the cream from Pomphrey to rub on Bill's gashes and the doors to the hospital wing were being shoved open. Fleur burst in and a confrontation occurred between the two women. I didn't pay any attention as Pomphrey was taking over for Remus and healing my cuts.

Pomphrey stopped as she reached my upper arm on my right hand. She breathed carefully as she raised her wand to summon a few potions.

"Dear, are you feeling dizzy, tired, anything?" She asked as she pressed a cloth of the inside of my arm, near my armpit. I nodded a little and winced as she added more pressure. "Drink this." She ordered, giving me a blood replenishing potion.

"What's going on? What's wrong with her?" Remus asked frantically.

"One of her cuts has just nicked an artery in her arm." She cast spells quickly and soon enough there was no signs of the injury. The twins were sitting on either side of me when she told me I needed to stay the night.

"Can I go down to my dorm to get a book, a shower, and a change of clothes first?" She seemed to hesitate, but agreed once the twins volunteered to go with me and make sure I came back. I needed to let Blaise know what happened and make sure he was alright.

The three of us walked to the dungeons, the twins supporting me on either side. When we arrived in front of the wall that was my common room's entrance, I spoke the password and entered. Blaise and Daphne were still in the common area, sitting on the couch whisper to each other. They both looked over as we entered and their eyes widened in shock. Whether it was the blood or the twins, I wasn't sure. Probably the blood.

"That's a lot of blood." Blaise commented with narrowed eyes. He stood and walked over to me. He gave me a once over, checking for injuries.

"She's already been healed by Pomphrey."

"She's staying in the Hospital Wing tonight, but she was permitted to come down for a shower and some clean clothing."

"How bad were you hurt? Was anybody else hurt? Come on, what's the damage?" Blaise asked with urgency. I ignored him and glanced at the staircase up to my dorm.

"Well, this should be fun…" I muttered, sneaking out of the twins warm embrace and making my way to the staircase with measured step.

"This staircase does the same as the Gryffindor one, doesn't it?" George asked, hesitant to let me attempt the stairs on my own.

"Yup,"

"How are you planning on getting up there? You needed our help to get down here as it is." Fred pointed out with a raised brow. Blaise was watching me, but all three of them realized that they couldn't come upstairs with me.

"No, you won't be fine so don't bother trying that." George stated before I could say anything.

"I can help her." Daphne said, standing from the couch and approaching slowly. I watched her for a few moments, assessing her like she had to me the first day. I looked to Blaise. He was the one who was sitting with her since I left. He nodded to let me know it was safe to go with her.

"Okay," Daphne placed a hand on my back to keep me steady on the, extremely slow, walk up the stairs.

Once we were in our room, I went for the bathroom, paying no attention to Tracy who laid sleeping in her bed. Daphne followed me, rightly assuming I needed supervision in the shower.

A glance in the mirror showed that I had brushed my hair out of my face at some point, smearing blood on my face in the process. The blood was everywhere. Even with Remus removing most of it, there was still blood on my face, in my hair, and surrounding my freshly healed cuts.

"I can go get your clothes from you trunk if you tell me the password. Gives you some privacy." I hesitated for only a moment. I trusted Blaise and if Blaise said it was okay, then I would accept that.

"Muggles." I told her. She paused for a moment but went to get my pajamas without comment. I was almost done with my quick rinse when she returned.

"You're not pureblood are you? By the way, your trunk is a mess."

"No." I stated as I turned of the water. "And that is because I was rushing to find things in it earlier."

"Are you half-blood?" She asked, turning around so I could keep some privacy.

"No." I said as I grabbed my towel off the hook and began to dry off. She was silent for a few moments.

"So, you're muggleborn." Daphne actually sounded amused at her deduction.

"You don't sound disgusted."

"You blended in with us for six years… I'm honestly impressed more than anything. Though I do think it was a stupid decision to make, coming into Slytherin and lying about your blood status." I saw her shoulders tense, as if she realized how bad that sounded. If I were anyone else, I may even think it was her trying to be snobbish and rude.

"I never lied, you still believed me. Who's the stupid one?" I asked as I finally took the pajama set from her.

"So, whose was it? The blood?" She seemed almost scared to ask. I figured the twins were telling Blaise everything downstairs and figured that Daphne should know as well.

"Bill Weasley. Greyback clawed his face and arm. Some of it was mine. I was dueling with him and a mirror shattered in front of me. The glass nicked an artery in my arm. I didn't really notice until Pomphrey told me."

"Is he okay? Well, obviously not…"

"He's alive. There's no way to know how much damage was done until the full moon. Remus is there for him though."

"Remus?"

"Lupin? He's my guardian. My parents died at the end of second year. He adopted me, at my request, at the end of third. Sirius Black is another guardian of mine."

"You seem awfully close with the Weasley twins."

"How do you think they got funding for their shop?" Daphne looked at me in surprise, and a slight bit of admiration. "Oh, and there is something you ought to know… Dumbledore was killed tonight. Snape did it, apparently, but Draco has been attempting it all year." I was dressed now and the two of us went into our room. I grabbed my book and the two of us took the slow walk downstairs. Daphne stopped me halfway down, finally losing the stunned look.

"Lily? Do you think there would be a place for me on your side?" I looked at Daphne and let a small smile slip onto my face.

"Do you want there to be?"

"I _need_ there to be. Astoria… she's all for all this pureblood stuff. She's not a supremacist exactly, but she hangs off of every word our father says. She's also very happy having a contract. I'm not. I don't particularly _want_ to marry Draco in the next five years; or anybody for that matter."

"Come with us to the Hospital Wing. We can talk to Remus and Sirius about it, but I don't see them saying no. They took in Blaise no problem, then again that may be because of the sibling bond…" She looked at me, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"You mean it?" I nodded. She gave me a quick hug in gratitude and we kept walking down the stairs. "What are the chances…" We looked at the common room where we had left Blaise and the twins. The three of them were laughing at something or other and looking like old friends. "Never mind."

"Hey! Lily, Blaise thought of something we could try for the shop! It's his first original product! Baby brother is growing up so quickly." I smiled at George as he wiped a fake tear from the corner of his eye.

"We're can bring Daphne. It's bad enough being surrounded by so many men and boys, we need more women if I'm going to locked at Grimmauld with you lot." I hooked my arm in Daphne's as the five of us left the common room.

"You know Tracy wasn't asleep and the news that you're a muggleborn will be everywhere by morning, right?" Daphne whispered as the boys kept joking in front of us. The rest of the students may be somber after the death of Dumbledore, but we weren't. This was war, people died, life went on.

"I see you told her the truth, finally?" I looked at Fred, a grin on my face.

"Now, _what_ have I told you? I would never tell someone something like that unless they asked. Directly. And in the correct phrasing."

"So she guessed." George clarified.

"Pretty much." We'd reached the stairs by this point and Fred scooped me up into his arms to carry. I glared, but understood it was quicker. Blaise, the bastard, was grinning in amusement and he lagged to walk with Daphne. I could hear him warning her about how others may react or treat her if she came with us.

"Don't be insulted if Ronald makes some kind of comment about you being a spy, a snake, evil, or anything like that. Also he hates when people call him Ronald or Ronnikins. Or when people prove him wrong, which is usually pretty easy to do." I huddled back into Fred's chest, listening to Blaise's overview of all the Weasley's and Remus and Sirius.

I was so tired at this point I didn't think I would care if Fred carried me the rest of the way to the Hospital Wing. It seemed that was what was happening anyway, I realized when he didn't even try to set me down at the top of the stairs. When we entered the wing, all noise stopped at the sight of Daphne.

"Remus, Sirius, can you come over here please?" Fred placed me in the same bed I had been in at the end of last year. The twins took places sitting on either side of me in the bed and Blaise sat at the end. Daphne stood next to the right hand side, looking hesitant and nervous. The two older men approached, looking curious, but not rejecting. Sirius seemed to get it first, but Remus wasn't far behind.

"What's up Lils?" Sirius asked with a small grin. "Picking up another stray?"

"Daphne wishes to switch sides… or rather, _pick_ a side. She would like to fight for us. She's not particularly prejudiced, doesn't like Gryffindor's but that's more of a house trait than anything else."

"Says you." Remus said with a fond grin.

"Hey!" Fred protested.

"No fair!" George copied.

"I don't see she can't join us… we have plenty of room. I do have one condition though…" Sirius stated, looking at the Slytherin. She nodded, waiting for it before agreeing to anything.

"Under no circumstances, are you to touch the soundproof glass over my mother's portrait." I couldn't help but laugh, the other two agreed quickly.

"I have a more serious, don't make the joke, condition." Remus glared at his old friend, who grinned shamelessly. "You two need to learn to duel. Sirius and I were just discussing it and we weren't going to allow Lily or Blaise to come back here next year. Not with the current climate and the fact that their allegiances are well known now. You wouldn't be able to either, not after separating from your family."

"That sounds…" Daphne began. "Like a godsend." She paused. "Pureblood girls aren't allowed to learn how to duel in my family because it is seen as brash. I only know what I've learned in defense and that's not much."

"Good. Then we have an agreement. Grab a bed and get comfortable, we'll send elves for all of your guy's things. Dumbledore's funeral will be in two days, the train leaves the same day. Sit with Lily and stay with her no matter what. Also, I don't recommend leaving the Hospital Wing for the next two days." Daphne nodded and went lay down on the bed to my right. I was leaning heavily on George and must have fallen asleep, because, aside from the awareness that Fred and George left during the night, I couldn't remember anything after that.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. One more chapter for Sixth year!**


	36. Year 6: Part VI

Dumbledore's funeral was two days later. Everyone was out of the Hospital Wing, Bill having been transferred to the Burrow to continue healing. Hundreds of 'light' witches and wizards of all ages and walks of life showed up for the mans entombment. I sat near the twins, Daphne, and Blaise. None of us were upset or crying about the man's death. He was a great wizard who'd accomplished amazing feats, but he was manipulative as hell and wasn't scared to sacrifice others for the cause.

I had been taunted anytime someone in my house saw me on the way to the funeral. The other students just stared, confused and wondering why I would allow myself to go to the snakes, for surly I knew they were evil. I let their words slide off like oil. The others did not. Fred, George, Blaise, Remus, and Sirius were sticking close and glaring at anyone who approached Daphne or I.

After the funeral, all students were ushered to their common rooms to finish packing and get on the train. Even though many had family at the funeral, McGonagall was not allowing any student to leave by any other means than the train. It was for security reasons, which I understood. It was also because of the fact that it would be much more of a hassle than the Interim Headmistress was capable of at the moment.

With many warnings from our guardians, we boarded the train. Daphne, Blaise, Luna, Harry, Ronald, Hermione, Ginny, and I piled into my usual compartment. We were not bothered for the entire ride. At least not after one student had tried to come in and found themselves covered in boils and implanted in the opposite wall.

"So… you three are staying with us?" Ronald asked with a sneer.

"No. Daphne, Blaise, and I are staying with Sirius and Remus. Luna and Harry are going home and to the Dursley's, respectively. The rest of you are staying at the Burrow. Don't worry, you won't need to see us three lowly Slytherins all that often. Just for the wedding and Order meetings and such." He glared, I turned back to my book.

"Is Grimmauld safe? Snape knew its location, he would've given it to his _Lord_ by now." Harry asked, worried about his godfather and angry at Snape. I gave him a deadpan look.

"You really think they are _that_ stupid? First, there are security measures in place to avoid that. Second, they changed the secret keeper and recast the fidelus charm. Third, who's to say that we're staying at Grimmauld?" Harry looked confused, and suspicious. "At least you're finally taking some of my advice to heart then." Harry looked like he was about to say something but I shook my head and he closed his mouth again.

When we arrived at the station Harry stood to leave the compartment first. He was going with the Dursley's and they didn't wait for anyone. Luna went next, seeing her father arrive on the platform and wishing us a good holiday. I knew she was going back to school next year and was honestly worried. I gave her a hug and told her to be careful, just in case I didn't get a chance to say it again. Hermione, Ronald, and Ginny disembarked when they saw Molly, Arthur, and Charlie waiting for them. We Slytherins remained seated.

"Aren't we going to leave?" Daphne asked once the platform began to clear out.

"Not yet, just sit back and wait. We always wait until the conductor starts his rounds. We was also usually the first on the train."

"So how did you keep it a secret?" I looked at her for a moment, thinking about my answer carefully.

"You know, I never did _lie_. My family came over from the states three generations ago. They were introverts, rich, and workaholics. They didn't like me much, aside from as a poster child. It was very similar to the way you grew up, just without magic. I was a part of the muggle high society circles, what with my family's name and riches."

"That was probably why nobody ever thought that you were less than a wizard-raised high society halfblood." Daphne commented. I nodded thoughtfully, and looked past her to see the platform empty and the conductor exiting the front of the train. There were only three trunks left sitting on the platform next to the train.

"Come on." I stood and disembarked the train, my hand resting on my wand. The other two followed my lead. We each dragged our own trunks over to the floo system and Blaise pulled out the slip of paper Remus had left for us with the location of Grimmauld place on it.

"Sirius connected the floo for the next ten minutes. That is the location. You go first, just in case time runs out we can always apparate. Sirius and Remus will be waiting. They will ask you a security question, answer it and you should be fine." Blaise explained for Daphne. She stepped up to the floo and vanished, he waited a minute before going in as well. I waited an extra two minutes, counting on Blaise's sass, before going through myself.

"How did you find out Remus was a werewolf?" Sirius asked, his wand pointed at my neck.

"His name is literally Raised-by-Wolves Wolf." I rolled my eyes and pushed Sirius' wand aside.

"What was the shortest amount of time between two Molly-canos?"

"Three hours." Both men answered, smiles on both of their faces. One was fond, the other exasperated, you can probably guess which was which.

"What is a Molly-cano?" Daphne asked.

"Molly Weasley. Sirius and I have a long running game of seeing who can make her explode in anger first. I usually win since she hates Slytherins and underage people not following her directions. Sirius is a good competitor since he has a drinking problem, an attitude problem, and an attention problem; in other words _he's_ just a problem. Sirius glared and threw me over his shoulders, earning him a smack on the arse. Fred and George came through the front door at that moment.

"Should we be worried that Sirius has stolen your affections from us, Lily Pad?" George asked in jest. Sirius put me down and winked.

"Nah, I'm not into bestiality. Come on you two, I'll show you to your room and give you the grand tour, Daphne. I get the feeling the twins aren't here to see me judging by their frowny faces."

"We are, kind of. We were sent to let you all know that there is an Order meeting at the Burrow on July 13th to go over the plan to get Harry. Moody wants to move it up because Snape would've told them when and how we were moving Harry."

"Okay, hey would you two mind doing me a favor?" Remus asked.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to pick something up for me in Diagon Ally. They won't sell to werewolves."

"Sure, what do you need? Better get it quick, shops are closing every day."

"I need… umm… I need an engagement ring from the jewelers three doors down from you. I will go get the order number, one second." Remus dashed from the room, leaving all of us in stunned silence.

"I think he forgot to mention something." I stated with a significant glance at Sirius.

"I think so too. How could he not tell me he was going to propose to my cousin!"

"Which one? You have about a million!" Blaise asked.

"Ball of yarn, my dear, ball of yarn. Tonks of course!" I smiled at Sirius' comment. Remus came back into the room and handed the twins a piece of paper and a small bag containing enough galleons.

"Thanks guys."

"No problem, though I think Lily might be upset that you didn't tell her." The twins turned on the spot and apparated away.

"And I didn't even get a goodbye! And here I thought they were worried about other men stealing my affections." I rolled my eyes and turned around after my dramatic statement, seeing two grinning gingers in the doorway behind me.

"Like we could forget you Lils!" Fred swept over and kissed me full on the lips. Pulling back he winked and disapparated for real. George was right behind him, delivering a kiss and a wink in quick succession.

I was left gaping at the doorway. The twins, my twins, had just kissed me. I'd just had my first kiss. And it was with the twins. Remus and Sirius were cracking up, seeing me stunned was a novel thing considering how often it happened. Daphne was confused and Blaise looked amused and murderous at the same time.

"That just happened, right? That wasn't just my imagination?"

"Imagine it a lot do you?" Sirius asked through his loud guffaws.

"Shut up. Come on you two, let's go. Leave your stuff, Kreature can bring it to your room later." I left the room, not waiting for them to follow me, embarrassment covering my cheeks and happiness warming my heart.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. This isn't going to turn into a super romantic story, so if you don't like the pairing, it's not going to be a main point in the upcoming chapters.**


	37. Year 7: Part I

Tonks and Remus got married in a ceremony that consisted of Sirius, Daphne, Blaise, the twins, and I. It was quick and sweet, considering the timing of it.

It was only a few days after when Remus called Daphne, Blaise, and I up to the study. Blaise and I knew what was coming, and so did Daphne if her look of nervousness said anything. Blaise was already learning to duel and I was quite proficient, but Daphne had little hands-on experience with it.

One trait of a Slytherin that not many people took into account, was our dislike to _be seen_ failing. That's why we were seen as the back of the class kids that never talked or answered questions. It also explained our work ethic and grades. It wasn't even the act of failing that bothered us. Any true Slytherin would tell you that failing was a necessary aspect of life, if you never failed you never learned.

I nudged her forward and we walked into the study. A spell was launched at me the second I entered the door. My wand was out and deflecting it just in time, and sending one back only seconds later, not caring about who the antagonist was.

"Well, her relexes haven't faded." Sirius stated with a grin as he stood up from his chair, which was now on fire. I rolled my eyes at the older man. He was an idiot, but an effective teacher.

"Of course they haven't, I was in a battle situation less than a month ago." I rolled my eyes.

"Meh, figured I would try to get you back for the duck incident." I glared.

"We agreed to never speak of that again." He laughed, and Remus finally inturrupted our bickering.

"Okay… I'm going to go over some basics with Daphen, test reaction times, and see where her skills are in general. Sirius, you're going to help Blaise practice. Lily, Tonks agreed to duel you and offer some pointers she learned in the auror acadamy. She's waiting in the attic. She figured a bigger space would be better for a full fledged duel." I nodded and left to meet with Tonks.

It was a long duel, one that spanned over an hour and left us both out of breath, sweating, and laughing. She ended up teaching me a new spell and a technique to use when injured. We then walked down to check in on the other four.

When we entered the room we were just in time to watch Daphne send Sirius flying into the wall. Blaise got distracted by this and Remus sent him into a couch on the other side of the room, near where Sirius was. Tonks saw Remus was distracted and sent a stinging hex at him with a small grin. I sent one at Daphne. Both yelped in shock and turned to glare at us.

"Constant vigilance." Tonks stated with a grin and a laugh.

"Good god, my wife is morphing into Mad-Eye Moody." Remus feigned a look of terror. I walked over to Blaise and offered him a hand up. Then I jumped on Sirius to keep him on the ground.

"Distracted by something mutt?"

"Oh yes, for someone who says she hasn't had any training in duelling, she is better than I would expect."

"I never said _no_ training, just no _formal_ training. Also I do have my OWL in defense." Daphne interjected.

"In other words, it was a well-timed accident. She was probably trying to disarm you." I translated, recieveing a small nod from Daphne and a twitch of the lips of Sirius.

"Can I get up now?" Sirius asked from under me. I jabbed him with my elbow and shook my head.

"It shouldn't take too long to get you capable enough for battle. I'd wager you would be able to protect yourself in the final confrontation when it comes time." Remus stated with a sad certainty.

"Well, that's reassureing." Blaise stated with a look on his face. I sent a slight stinging hex at him and he yelped before glaring at me.

"Next lesson will be tomorrow. We will train every day and each lesson will focus on teaching all three of you spells, stances, strategies, and styles. We can have them before lunch, 11 a.m." Blaise was rubbing his tail bone, which had hit the wood of the couch, and Daphne was looking a little scared. I smiled and nodded in excitement. It sounded fun. "I might use you in some of their lessons as an example, Lily. It's a little easier to teach something when you don't have to do it yourself as you talk." Remus stated. "You and Sirius are going to be my little fighter monkeys."

"Hey, Tonks, why don't we go shower and change while these four take care of lunch. I gave Kreature the difficult task of helping the twins organize and inventory the store room at the shop." Sirius groaned, we both laughed as we walked off to take a much needed shower.

It was finally time for the Order meeting about transfering Harry. This would also mark the first Order meeting for Daphne. The three of us had skipped the weekly meetings since getting home, giving Daphne time to get used to her new circumstances before throwing her to the weasels.

As such, we were now sitting in the living room of the Burrow, a first for all three of us. Molly was alternating between glaring at us and looking at Bill in worry. There were still several members who had yet to arrive, so it was more of a mingleing party at the moment. Fred and George were among those who were absent and, as such, I was introducing Blaise and Daphne to Andromeda.

"Lily?" Bill had walked over and now stood behind me. I turned in surprise and looked at the older Weasley. I excused myself from the conversation as Bill pulled me aside.

"Hello Bill, do I finally get to meet Fleur?"

"You can if you want, she's over there." He gestured in her vague direction, "That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I never got to thank you for everything."

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinly curious.

"Greyback. You most likely kept him from killing me, and then you kept me from dying. From what I hear, it's because of you that I didn't bleed out from a scratch. Talk about lame ways to die." I smiled slightly, but couldn't be too gratuitous for his praise. From what I heard about it from Pomphrey, and Molly, my actions were also why his scars were as bad as they were. It took too long for them to get to him.

"Well, I guess. Really though, Bill? You don't need to thank me for that. It's what anyone would've done. Besides, if it was anyone else your scars probably wouldn't be as bad as they are."

"I'm still thanking you. If you ever need anything, like help with the twins, let me know."

"I think I have the twins covered, but thank you. I might need to cash that favor in at some point."

"Now… you've been wanting to meet my fiancee for too long, let's go." He grinned and the two of us crossed the room to speak with Fleur. I was distantly aware of the floo going off and security questions being asked, but Bill was keeping me distracted.

"Bonjour, it is a pleasure to finally get to meet you." I greeted the blonde. She looked at me in delight.

"I as well. I've heard much about you, and I must thank you for saving my Bill's life."

"It was no problem or inconvenience to me."

"By that she means she's too emabarassed to accept an apology." George stated as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I almost jumped in shock at his sudden appearance. Fred came up on my other side and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Well, hello,"

"Brother dearest." The twins said with manicle grins.

"Say, will you _go_ _fetch_ something for us,"

"We left in the yard. You should know the area like the back of your paw." I jabbed both twins in the side, they grunted, but kept their little grins. Fleur glared at them, but Bill just smirked.

"That's what you came up with? You had so long and that was the _gem_ you decided to go with?"

"Well, we already asked Tonks if Remus was house-trained, and then we asked Blaise if Sirius needed to be on a leash. We only have so many dog jokes. You aren't quite important enough for us to come up with more." George smiled, wide and toothy. I bet the answer to the question about Sirius was yes. He was known to be a problem.

"And _there's_ the _real_ insult." Bill chuckled. "Let's be honest, the only reason I'm not important enough to warrant a good dog joke is because you need to use the good stuff on the two men that stand between you and your 'Lily pad', don't try and deny it." My eyes went wide.

"What do you mean, stand between them and me?" I asked, the three men looked at me incredulously.

"You're kidding…" George stated.

"I don't think she is boys." Bill narrowed his eyes in investigative confusion.

"We've been trying to get Remus and Sirius' permission to court you for the past three years. Just after the Yule ball actually…"

"Yeah, then you all but adopted Blaise and we had to start on him as well."

"Then why did you two start dating Katie and Angelina?" I asked incredulously.

"Because they told us to live our lives as normal until you became of age." Fred actually looked pretty put out at that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how unlike a couple the twins acted with Katie and Angelina.

"Which, if I remember correctly, happened three months ago." My jaw dropped. They'd basically made a move the second they were able to.

"It still took some convinceing though. I think they only agreed because we were annoying them so much. Sirius was far easier to convince than Remus was though. He just told us good luck. Blaise was tougher, but in the end he just warned us against hurting you."

"I'm going to kill them. All of them."

"You won't have time, Moody just got here, the meeting is starting now." I allowed myself to be moved to the couch, for now. I sat next to Daphne and Tonks, all of our men (Blaise, Fred, George, Remus, and Sirius) standing behind us.

"Okay. Because Snape is a lying bastard, we need to adjust our plans for getting Harry from the Dursley's to here. We have a plan, we will use polyjuice to make it harder for any oposition to know which Harry is the real one. As such, we will need 5 volunteers to take the polyjuice and 6 volunteers to act as his Order escort. We won't be able to apparate because of the trace he will carry until his birthday, so we will be using other methods of transport."

"What do you mean, _other methods_?" Hermione asked, fear and dread in her voice.

"Thestrals, flying moterbike, and brooms. Now, any other questions? No? Good. Who volunteers? We need ten." I saw Bill, Fleur, Ronald, Hermione, Kingsley, and Arthur. I heard the twins whispering and turned to look at them, they both had their hands in the air. Sirius and Remus had their arms in the air as well. I saw Tonks put her hand up, and Remus gently push it down from his spot behind her with a stern look.

Then I put my hand in the air.

Protests rose in the room. Fred and George tried to push my arm down, Remus, Blaise, and Sirius forbid it, and Daphne looked about to say something as well. Moody quieted them all with a shout.

"Now, as much as I would like to accept you as the final volunteer, I cannot because we need one more Order escort and I don't think they would buy us sending Harry with someone his age." I nodded and I heard sighs of relief around the room. "You will wait here with Molly to heal anyone that gets injured." I practically heard the woman wince from across the room, and was dreading it myself. I nodded anyway and allowed myself to be put somewhere behind the scenes. Charlie raised his hand and Moody nodded.

"So, there will be 6 pairs in the sky?" I asked, Moody shook his head.

"I will be bringing Mundungus. There will be seven." I thought that was a terrible idea and almost said something. I only just refrained. I was just lucky Hagrid wasn't asked to escort Harry. The man was nice, but not the best dueler.

"I will figure out the groupings, all of the volunteers should meet here on July 27. We fly then, we will apparate from here to the Dursley's. Everyone going is of age so the trace shouldn't come into effect. Moody turned and left the room without another word, leaving the Order meeting to disperse. The twins dragged me to a corner where Remus and Sirius were waiting. Daphne and Blaise were engaged in a conversation with Tonks and her mother.

"Are you kidding me? You four are ridiculous! I know how to duel, I would've been perfectly fine!"

"Yes, but consider this… _we didn't want you endangering yourself_." Sirius stated.

"Look at Tonks, she's an Auror and Remus didn't want her to volunteer either." Fred pointed out. I glared at him and he cowered slightly, possibly second guessing himself, probably not.

"You all suck." Remus and Sirius walked away with serious expressions in tact.

"At least we know you won't be in any danger…" George commented.

"Yes, but the same can't be said for _me_! You four are the closest things I have to family, and all of you are going to be in danger with this."

"We'll be fine!"

"Yeah, we'll be Harry, he apparently can't die!" I rolled my eyes and punched them both in the arm as hard as I could. They winced and I leaned up and gave each a kiss on the cheek.

"You'd better be fine." I walked away, my threat hanging in the air. It was the nicest threat I'd ever issued. I joined in on a conversation with Charlie and Arthur about creature rights, not paying any mind to the twins for the rest of the night.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	38. Year 7: Part II

The night of the 27th I arrived at the Burrow with Remus and Sirius. Daphne and Blaise had remained home, not wanting to be in the way. The three of us made our way into the living room where everyone seemed to be congregating. I approached Moody when I caught sight of Mundungus, looking as sketchy as ever.

"Are you certain you want Mundungus to be your _only_ backup? I could always swap places with him…" Look, it wasn't that I wanted to get on a broom with Moody, or that I wanted to jump into a possible ambush, but Fletcher was a skeevy Son of a Walrus… that was insulting to the walrus. I'm a Slytherin, we live for ourselves, we're ambitious to a fault most times, but that didn't mean that we didn't want to help people. I wanted to help tonight and I was never one to sit around and wait for results. Plus, I liked Moody and _really_ didn't trust Fletcher.

"Don't you worry about it. Besides, you need to stay here in case someone gets injured." I nodded, despite the fact that I wasn't the best at healing spells, and moved to sit between the twins. They were sitting close together on the couch, whispering things back and forth. I recognized the fear on their faces in almost equal measure to the determination that they would yield like a sword to for the night. I wished they would wear it as a shield instead.

"Hey." I whispered, "Come back alive and in one piece."

"We'll do our best." I didn't like how serious that sounded.

Moody stood to begin the meeting with the arrival of Kingsley. The sooner the better. The darker it was the better chances of not being seen, the lighter it was the better it was for their enemies to go unnoticed. It was a very small window; and a paradox.

"First things first, we will be apparateing to the Dursley's backyard. Harry is there alone now, the muggles left an hour ago so let's make this quick. We will go in, Hermione will collect the hair for the polyjuice, half of you will take the potion and then dress in identical clothing. Those of you that will be changing are: Hermione, Ronald, Fred, George, Mundungus, and Fleur. The rest of you will be escorts."

"Who is going with who, and who is taking Harry?" Arthur asked. I could see his eyes dart between his sons in apprehension.

"I was getting to that. Arthur, you will be going with Fred on broomstick. Remus, with George, also on broomstick. Sirius, with Ronald on broomstick. Mundungus and I will be on broomstick. Kingsley, with Hermione on thestral. Bill, you and Fleur will go on thestral. Charlie, you will be taking Harry on Sirius' flying motorcycle. I will give you each a destination to go to in order to meet your portkey. They are timed appropriately with not much wiggle room. Be on time. Let's head out." Moody grabbed Mundungus by his shoulder and pushed him out the door. Everyone stood and gave a quick hug to their loved ones. The twins each gave me one, followed by Sirius.

"Take care of him." I whispered to Remus when he came for his hug. I didn't specify which him. I meant all three of them. Remus only really had control over George though.

"I'll do my best to bring him back alive. I can't promise anything else when we don't know what might happen." I nodded and he finally ran to catch up with the others. Molly and Tonks were looking at me with understanding, a first for Molly. We sat at the kitchen table in silence while we waited for them to return. Sometimes I really hated being a _young_ woman.

When the first sound came from outside, alerting us to the first arrival, we all jumped to our feet. Harry and Charlie came through the door, unharmed but with some blood left behind on their clothing. It seemed someone else had healed them where they had met their portkey. Harry looked devastated and Ginny walked over to comfort him. I was worried as to why, had someone gotten hurt?

"We were ambushed. They knew we were moving him. At least _thirty_ Death Eaters were waiting, _Voldy included_." I stared at Charlie as he spoke, he hadn't mentioned seeing anyone go down.

"Hedwig was killed." Harry muttered.

" _Thank god_." I whispered, normally nobody would hear this, but the silence was against me. Ginny glared while Harry just looked even more devastated. Tonks was still understanding it seemed, and so was Charlie. A yell for help outside brought us all to attention. Molly and Charlie rushed out to help, but Tonks and I were frozen. That had been Remus's voice.

Remus or George. Who was hurt? Remus or George? Remus or George? Remus or George? Remus or George? Come on, who was it? Were they alive? Would they recover? Remus or George? Please let them both _be alive_ …

Molly ran into the house, Remus and Charlie supporting a heavily bleeding George behind her. My breath caught as I stared at the scene before me. For the first time, I was frozen. Harry and Ginny were staring on as well, Harry in guilt and Ginny in worry. I was beyond worry. They brought him into the living room and I wanted to follow but Remus reappeared and stopped me before I even took a step.

I was almost grateful because I wasn't certain I could muster the courage to see or help him.

"You can't be in there right now. Molly is helping him, you won't be any help at the moment. You need to wait for the others and help when you can." I nodded and sank back into the chair I hadn't moved away from. "Tonks, can you go help Molly and Charlie?" She nodded and went to help. Remus sat next to me and placed a supporting hand on my shoulder.

"What…" My voice cracked, I couldn't get my question out. Remus understood at least.

"A dark spell hit him. I think it was Snape, but I can't be sure. It's only his ear, but there was a lot of blood."

"Snape would've aimed for the neck and he wouldn't have missed."

"That's why I can't be sure. I know what I saw, but I also know Snape's fighting."

"So, he _missed_ , that is _possible_." Harry pointed out, anger in his voice. Remus nodded, but seemed unconvinced. He looked at me and I knew what he was thinking. Snape wouldn't aim for something he knew he couldn't hit; he would aim for something he knew he _could_. There were other ways to kill someone than a sliced neck, the thigh worked just as well; so did the torso, the largest target.

"You need to keep Fred away until Molly is done." Remus told me, I blanched. Fred was going to flip out.

"That… may be quite difficult." He nodded. More movement came from outside and Remus went to meet them, and ask security questions. Hermione appeared moments later to inform us that Kingsley had to get back to work, but they were both uninjured. I nodded and she sat near me.

"Remus told me what happened. Do you want me to look in and see if I can get you an update?" I nodded again. She went without another question. When she returned was the same time Fred and Arthur came barreling into the room. She blocked the door and I stood to take Fred's hand. He looked wild and needed to see his twin, I needed to as well.

"He's alive and in stable condition. Mrs. Weasley said she couldn't save his ear because of the dark nature of the spell. She's just bandaging it. Five minutes."

"I'm not waiting five minutes." Fred stated, letting go of my hand and rushing into the room. Everyone let him.

I followed, needing to see him for myself. He was extremely pale and covered in blood, but he was _breathing_. Fred sat on the floor by his side and stared at him, willing him to open his eyes. Ronald and Sirius arrived soon after, very late, having missed their portkey. There were still two more teams left to arrive, but nobody had been declared dead, _yet_. That changed with the arrival of Bill and Fleur.

"Moody's dead." They were simple words, but they had an impact on the room. I had expected as much when I heard he was taking Mundungus for back-up. I didn't pay attention to the explanation as I saw a twitch in George's hand.

I walked closer, nobody stopped me. Fred was staring at his twin again. When George reached a hand up to feel where the pain was coming from, Fred whispered the explanation. George said nothing for a few moments, but allowed his eyes to open slightly.

"I'm saint-like." I, and everyone else, was very confused.

"What's wrong with him? Is his mind affected?" Fred asked, looking at his mother, who was obviously sad and confused.

" _Saint-like_. You see… I'm holy. _Holey_ , Fred, geddit?" I closed my eyes and took in a huge breath to refrain from hitting the man. Molly looked even sadder now, but a small smile crossed her lips.

"Pathetic. _Pathetic_! With a whole wide world of ear related humor before you, you go for _holey_?" Fred had tears on his face and amusement in his voice. I had what the twins called my 'pissy face' on.

"That's what you have to say!" I yelled at them. Everyone looked my way in surprise. I never yelled. "Not only was that a terrible joke, even if the timing were better that was still terrible and you can't deny it, but you… _you_!" I didn't know what I was going to say.

"What did you say? I can't hear you." George muttered, a small smile crossing his lips. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Can everyone please leave?" Fred asked, looking at me in understanding. Though I sensed a laugh under the surface. To be honest the joke _had_ helped. If only the situation wasn't so serious. Molly had resisted for a moment, but Arthur led her from the room. When it was only the three of us, Fred walked over and dragged me closer to his brother.

"I scared you. I know, and I'm sorry. But I did come back in one piece! Sort of…" I rolled my eyes.

"You, are impossible."

"So…" Fred muttered a few moments of silence later. "Come ear often?" That did it, Georges groans fueled my laughter and I laughed harder than I had in weeks.

"That was terrible, and you were saying _my_ joke was pathetic." George said, seeming to be more coherent now.

"Your joke was pathetic, mine was awesome. Though I do think your second one was well done."

"Why thank you. So I get the feeling we're staying _ear_ tonight?" George asked, looking at Fred.

"Like Mum would let us leave. I don't think you're in any condition to leave anyway." George began to nod, but ended up winceing.

"We should get you up to your room, changed, and cleaned up." I said, "And if your Mum tries to make me leave I will not be held responsible for what I end up doing."

"Neither will we be." The twins chimed in unison. I stood and went to the kitchen to let everyone know they could roam freely again. Despite our plan, none of us moved quite yet. Everyone filtered back into the room and sat around to spend time with George before bed.

"I'm just so glad you are okay! I don't know what I would do if you were s _ear_ iously injured." Fred stated to his twins delight and everyone elses dismay. We had been sitting together for 10 minutes and there have been ear puns in every other sentence the twins made.

"Fred! George! For Heavens sake, stop with the jokes! George you could have been _killed_ tonight!" Molly yelled. The room was silent for almost a minute before George spoke up.

"Sorry Mum. I know you find it t _ear_ ible, but it's just so easy…" Groans sounded around the room, but I was trying to hold my laughter. He had to be running out if that was what he came up with.

"Stop with the ear puns!" Charlie whispered in exasperation. His head was in his hands and he looked exhausted.

"Why? Is it _ear_ itating?" George, my lovely George, was going to die soon. Probably by Charlie's hand.

"You're going to be h _ear_ ing them all night, so buckle up." Fred stated with a grin.

"You are both so… _ear_ responsible." I muttered, earning a round of cheers from my best friends.

"More like _ear_ resistable!" They chimed with large smiles. I gave them each the high-fives they were asking for and tried not to laugh at the betrayed looks I was receiving. It took five more puns before everyone started to leave for the kitchen or their own homes.

Fred was helping George sit up as I said goodbye to Remus, Tonks, and Sirius. After they flooed away I noticed that Fred was having trouble with his twin and went into the kitchen.

"Will someone go help Fred get George up the stairs and get cleaned up and changed?" Bill and Charlie both stood and walked past me to help their brothers. I thanked them as they passed by me.

"Is he okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. They both made some more ear jokes, I told them they were idiots, we came to an agreement of sorts. I'm going to stay here with them tonight." I explained, looking behind me when I heard them begin to trek up the stairs.

"Absolutely not! The three of you are an item, you _cannot_ stay in their room tonight!"

"Yes, because a fresh wound, the amputation of George's ear, and the terror of knowing everyone I love could've died less than 24 hours ago really _sets the mood_. I think it's safe to say that nothing will happen." Bill and Charlie entered the room once more. they retook their seats and smiled at me.

"The twins are on the second floor, we left their door open for you. You can head up, they had us push their beds together and are awaiting your presence."

"Thank you…" I looked down just as I reached the door and noticed a problem. I wasn't wearing clothing that would be suitable for sleeping.

"The twins have that covered too," Charlie said, noticing where I was looking. I nodded and went up the stairs, stopping at the open door and seeing George laying in the bed, half asleep. Fred was standing at the chest of drawers, but turned when he felt my eyes on him.

"Here you go, Lils." He held out a pair of boxers and a large jersey shirt. I accepted them and he motioned to a small nook that had a curtain. I went behind and changed into the clothing. When I emerged, I looked at George instead. He had his eyes open and was staring at me. He had a blank mask on his face.

"How are you really feeling George?" He only shrugged. I glanced at Fred, who nodded, and climbed into the bed next to George, ending up in the middle. I was on the opposite side of his injury, just to be safe. Fred left the room to go to the bathroom and get ready for bed himself.

"It's okay to _not_ be okay." I whispered as I grabbed his arm and pulled it around my shoulders. He looked at me, his bandaged head gleaming in the light coming from the lit candles in the room.

"Does it… is it…"

"It doesn't change anything and it isn't hideous. It doesn't make me care for you any less, and I honestly couldn't care less that it happened. What I do care about, is how you are dealing with this. Are you still the same man I met all those years ago when you told me you knew my secret? The same one that's been by my side for the past six years. If anything, this will help me out. I won't need a moment to figure out which one of you is which." He remained silent for a few moments, not quite looking at me.

"I'm not okay. It hurts and I don't know how to deal with it. It looks _really_ bad. It will be an adjustment, but so long as you promise to stay, I think I can adjust… does it really not bother you?"

"Of course it _bothers_ me. You lost an ear because of a mans petty plans and another's, probably, poor aim. The fact that it was you makes me want to kill Snape, just because I know you're hurting. However, it doesn't bother me in the way you were referring to." George leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, tightening his arm and pulling me closer. I snuggled into his chest and slipped my arms around his waist.

Fred entered the room and slipped in behind me, slipping his arms around my waist, resting one hand on my arm as a connection to his twin. We fell asleep like that, curled around each other with me sandwiched between them both.

I had been going back and forth from the Burrow, the shop, and Grimmauld for the past two days.

George was still laid up in bed at his mother's demand, so I was helping Fred at the shop, making products mostly. While we weren't as busy as we had been, we still got a fair amount of customers and orders. The products that helped people blend in and could be helpful to escape were still selling quickly. Mail orders were common.

When the two of us got back to the Burrow on the 30th, we were met by absolute silence and two older, blonde people neither of us recognized. Both of us froze for a moment, but Molly entered the room with a forced smile.

"Hello you two, glad you are back. Dinner will be in the garden tonight, why don't you go sit with George, he's been rather lonely today." Fred and I turned to go up to the twins room when she spoke again, "Oh, no dears. George is sitting in the orchard at the moment." We looked at each other in shock, George hadn't wanted to leave his room since his ear. He was embarrassed by it.

Sure enough, George was sitting by the orchard, waiting for us it seemed. He was dressed, his head bandaged, and carrying one of the books I'd given them for their birthday.

"Thank Merlin! Fleur's parents got here at 11 and Mum has gone mental trying to impress them. Plus, their comments… I had to get out of there but this was as far as Mum would let me." I smiled and sat down next to him, Fred sitting on his other side.

"That bad, huh?" Fred asked. I watched the twins interact, remaining silent. It likely wouldn't be long before everything really went to shit and I wouldn't be in contact with them for periods of time. All three of us were on the front lines, prime targets for the Death Eaters. It was entirely possible we didn't make it out of this war alive.

"Hey, Lily! Can we talk to you about something?" Hermione asked as she, Ronald, and Harry approached.

"Depends on what."

"Just come and listen." Ronald ordered, I sent a none-too-friendly look at him and turned back to the twins.

"Please? It's really important." Harry pleaded, with a sigh I stood and followed them to the make-shift quidditch pitch. They began talking as soon as we were seated, not bothering with any safety measures.

Harry talked about horcruxes, explaining what they knew about them, which was not much, and how it was their job to go after Voldemort's. He also said that one was destroyed and one had been found and Harry and Dumbledore had collected a fake. Hermione and Ronald took over the explanation, informing me of their plans for the search starting after the wedding.

"So, what do you think? Good idea, right?" Harry asked, a slight sarcastic twinge to his voice. He was not pleased about having to live in a tent and abandoned buildings for months then.

"Whatever floats your Titanic." Ronald got a confused look on his face, and Harry and Hermione adopted puzzled looks.

"The Titanic sank." Hermione pointed out with a frown.

"Yeah, just like your IQ did when you came up with that idea." Harry rolled his eyes.

"And do you have a better one? Because we are open to suggestions."

"As a matter of fact, I don't. What I do have is a brain. First off, what are you planning to do about food? There are three of you, an unknown factor of how much energy you will be spending daily, how much you can fit in your bag, how long your money for more food will last, and that's just off the top of my head. You have Sirius and I. We wouldn't mind giving you some money for food, but keep in mind you won't be eating as much as you have been. I can give you a list of muggle foods that are high in calories and nutrients so you don't get malnourished. I'll tell Sirius and we will get a muggle account set up for you that will go into use in a week or two.

"Warmth? Thick clothing and warming charms won't be enough. You're planning on living in a tent and buildings without heat for the winter. I can assure you, you haven't planned for that. None of you own the clothing necessary for that, nor will you be able to get any before you leave, in two days. Do you know how to build a fire? That's going to be important. How about bringing extra blankets, sweaters, and clothing that can be layered.

"You have shelter covered I guess… though I think you could do better. Maps? Did you pack any of those? You might want to, since none of you even know what direction to go to get to the Ministry form Hogwarts.

"Finally, protection. You asked me to talk in private, brought me over here, and didn't place any privacy charms. Learn some, the most powerful ones you can because I can assure you, _they will be looking for you_. Silence, disillusion, and tracking charms need to become your friends, forget defensive, learn some offensive. Healing books, I have a few you can bring. Potions, we have plenty at Grimmauld. Go there before you disappear."

"You seem to have thought this through almost as much as we have." Hermione commented.

"I've been at it longer too. Harry, you really need to learn where to ask questions. I've known you were looking into horcruxes since you first asked Slughorn. After I found out what they were and how hard they were to destroy? I figured Voldy would have back-ups, and that Dumbledore would send you, not to mention you would feel obligated to do it without help. I've been planning."

"You know how to destroy them?" Hermione asked, hopeful. I face palmed and nearly began to cry.

"You are _so_ under prepared…"

"There was nothing in Hogwarts library, nor in Dumbledore's office. How did you find out?"

"I asked the twins. They found some information in books and then we all had a research session in the library at Grimmauld. You know, just because Hogwarts has a big library doesn't mean it is the most expansive. Anything dark was removed years ago, family libraries are your best bet for info. I have the main points written down for you at home. I didn't think you needed to know how to make them, nor would you want to." I shivered in disgust, remembering what I'd been trying to forget. "But, how to destroy and detect them? That's all there. It won't tell you where they are, but it will let you know if an object is a horcrux or not. I'll bring it with me for the wedding."

"Lily!" I turned when I heard my voice to see the twins standing at the other edge of the pitch.

"I need to go, revamp your plan." I stood and left the three stunned individuals. I would probably get questions from Hermione tomorrow at Harry's party.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	39. Year 7: Part III

The party was in full swing, a Snitch cake had been made for Harry, I was sitting on the sidelines with Daphne and Blaise, the twins being the life of the party, and Remus talking with some other Order members and keeping close to Tonks. They told us this morning that they were expecting. I was happy for them, but nervous because of the war. A pop of apparation and a frantic Arthur entered the people-watching bliss I was experiencing.

"The Minister is on his way here!" Arthur yelled, Remus and Tonks rushed for the edge of the property and jumped the fence deep into the orchard. The new werewolf registration act was in effect and Remus was well known. Daphne, Blaise, and I sunk into the shadows around the house to go as unnoticed as possible.

The Minister arrived with all the pomp that was expected, focusing in on the Golden Trio as Daphne had continued calling them. Blaise had nicknamed the three of us the Silver Trio.

He summoned the three of them for a private chat, as he was there for business apparently. I was curious about what business he could possibly _have_ to conduct. The four went into the house for their 'private' chat.

They were inside for about thirty minutes before returning without the Minister. Apparently, the business was Dumbledore's will. Harry was holding a Snitch that matched his cake, Hermione had a book clutched to her chest, and Ronald was looking quizzically at a small lighter shaped object in his hands. They explained everything, mentioning that the sword of Gryffindor was also left to them, but that the Ministry didn't give it over and put it in a vault instead. It was a good thing that only Order members and family were present. Also fortunate that there were permanent silencing charms woven into the wards.

I approached Hermione after their conversation and asked if I could see the book. She had mentioned it was an original and needed to be translated from runes. She handed it over and I began flipping through. A symbol was drawn on the front cover, a triangle with a line and a circle inside. I thought I had seen it somewhere before. The first title was The Fountain of Fair Fortune, the last one was The Tale of the Three Brothers.

I couldn't exactly _read_ in runes, but I did recognize a few words here and there. For instance, in the Tale of Three Brothers, I recognized the words elder, wand, death, resurrection, stone, cloak of invisibility, and equals. They were odd combinations, but this _was_ a story book.

I glanced at the fountain story, feeling a certain pull towards it. I didn't recognize much from that one, but I did see the words amulet and forest in close connection on multiple occasions. It made me wonder about the validity to some of these stories… if only I could remember where I'd seen the symbol before.

I handed the book back to Hermione without a word, she didn't ask if I'd found anything, so I didn't tell her. It would be useless to give a theory, especially one like this that had no foundation. Hermione wouldn't believe my theory anyway, she was quiet skeptical of things she couldn't understand.

I arrived at the Burrow early the next day for Bill and Fleur's wedding. I was already dressed for the occasion, in a strapless, navy blue dress and my silver heels.

I started my visit with Fred giving me a hug before going to take a shower. George, with his still bandaged head, was standing by the sink in the kitchen, brushing his teeth. I hopped up to sit on the counter next to him. We remained silent though, no need to converse.

Harry appeared, looking out the window of the living room, not seeing us standing at the kitchen window watching him. He was already dressed for the wedding, as were the two of us. Ginny approached from the stairs, her dress unfastened in the back. I raised a brow when she turned and asked Harry to zip her up. That was unnecessary, we were witches. Harry did so, seeming shocked.

Then my worst nightmare occurred, Ginny turned around and they had the most awkward, slow kiss I had ever seen. I looked at George with a grimace, he was looking at me with a grin. He reached up and placed the handle of his toothbrush in the hole where his ear had been. The two others had a whispered conversation before turning around and spotting us for the first time. Both were blushing.

"Gooood mornnnning." George drew out, his brush still in his ear hole. I reached over and removed it with a frown, that probably wasn't good for the healing process. Ginny looked at her brother with a glare after Harry made a run for it. I laughed at their predicament and her glare turned to me.

"Bitch," She muttered under her breath. George lost his teasing smile and glared at his sister.

"What the hell did you just call me?" I had received many insults since entering the wizarding world, and they never really bothered me, but this was different. I'd earned all the other insults, with the exception of Mudblood because that was more a circumstance of birth. This one, I'd done nothing to deserve other than laughing at the predicament. George was the one that had made it awkward. I was also just tired of her thinking she was superior and could treat me like shit because I was a Slytherin.

"You _clearly_ heard me." Was her haughty reply.

"And _you_ clearly don't want to take the risk of saying it _again_." I stated as Fred entered the kitchen. He looked at the tense atmosphere and turned to leave again. George and I followed him.

Hours later, after a stressful morning and a beautiful ceremony, the party was in full swing. Fleur looked beautiful as ever and Bill had a smug look on his face because she was finally his. Fred and George were dancing with their mother and Hermione. I walked over to see Luna and her father before they got dancing as well. Daphne and Blaise had found Victor Krum and were getting caught up again.

"Hello Luna, Xeno." I had met Luna's father only once, a long time ago on a visit to Luna's over the summer. He was an interesting man with an even more interesting sense of style. He greeted me with a bow and I returned the favor with a curtsy. Luna smiled, but kept looking around the tent at the fairies. I caught sight of something around Xeno's neck and my heart soared.

"That's an interesting pendant Xeno. I don't think I've ever seen something like it before."

"Oh, now that is not too surprising. Even if you had heard of or seen it it would seem out of place for me."

"What does it mean?"

"Why it's the mark of the Deathly Hallows of course! Though Grindlewald also used it as his symbol. Unfortunate that it was tainted in such a way."

"The Deathly Hallows?" I furrowed my brows.

"Yes, have you ever heard of The Tale of Three Brothers?"

"Briefly, I haven't heard the story."

"Well, the story is about three brothers who encounter Death. Death was upset that they managed to get out of being killed by the river using their magic. He tricked the brothers, acting as if impressed by their skill, and offered each a gift. The gifts were the elder wand, the resurrection stone, and the cloak of invisibility." He pointed to each component on the pendant as he spoke and I listened attentively.

"That's interesting…"

"Some of us believe that these artifacts actually exist, but most people have written them off as a children's story. Though, I get the feeling you wouldn't… perhaps you should pick up a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. You may find something interesting. If I recall your pendant holds a certain significance as well." I smiled at Xeno. My amulet was on display today because of the dress I was wearing. I didn't think anybody knew what it was, so I hadn't been too worried about it.

Luna grabbed her fathers hand and dragged him to the dance floor when a new song came on. I tried not to laugh at their dancing, I really did, but it was quite the spectacle. Blaise and Daphne approached soon after, grins on their faces.

"The twins are looking for you. They want to dance."

"They want to break my ankle you mean." A silver light entered the marquee bringing the festivities to a halt. We all listened as it announced that the ministry had fallen in Kingsley's deep voice, warning us that they were coming. At the same time the message ended, the fighting and fleeing began. I saw Hermione apparate out with Harry and Ron seconds before I was brought into a duel.

Daphne, Blaise, and I stood back to back and warded off attacks. I saw Remus race over to his wife, who was holding her own in a duel. He got her out of there as soon as he could, taking a curse to the back in her stead as he was apparating. I hoped he landed okay.

Sirius was apparateing out with a few young kids and underage guests. Molly and Arthur were fighting with Ginny at their side. The twins were sending spells in rapid succession, working together to take down as many opponents as possible.

People were apparating out every second and though both Daphne and Blaise were holding their own, but they were struggling to fight them all at once.

Needing to get out before starting another duel, I put my hands on both of their shoulders and apparated to the first place I could think of that would be safe. Just as we apparated I saw a spell coming at me. We landed with a hard jarring due to my distraction. I had been just quick enough to keep any of us from being splinched.

"Where are we?" Daphne asked, looking around in confusion. I looked around to see for myself. We were in a park in muggle London. There was a swing set swaying in the wind and rusting monkey bars with peeling paint. I recognized it as the park that I had ended up in when I had run away from home at the age of 7.

"Muggle London, near where I grew up."

"Should we stay away from Grimmauld for now, just in case the Death Eaters go there." Blaise whispered, "Should we go to your old place?"

"Yeah. Come on, we'll have to walk, but it's not far from here. We can stay there until Remus lets us know to go back. I'll send word in the morning, as per Remus' instructions." They nodded and followed me down the street.

We all slept together in the living room for the night, and sent a patronus the next morning. Remus sent one back, telling us it was safe to return to Grimmauld place. We apparated there and spent the first ten minutes letting Remus inspect all of us for any injuries. It was close to the full moon and his wolf was feeling protective.

The next morning, as we were sitting down for breakfast, there was a pop of appiration from outside the house.

"Who could that be? Everyone in the Order knows better than to leave their safe house this soon after an attack. The enchantment isn't broken, is it?" Sirius asked, reaching for his wand and standing.

"I think I know who is that stupid." I said as we walked to the front hall to intercept whoever had arrived. The door opened with much caution and a wand entered before its wielder. Soon after, Harry, Ronald, and Hermione followed. They went wide eyed at seeing the six of us pointing our wands at them.

"What was the first piece of advice I gave when teaching the DA?"

"Dueling is a game. Even when it's life and death, it's a game. You need to learn the rules of the game. And then you need to play better than anyone else. Mercy is pretty thing, but it won't get you anywhere." Hermione stated, I nodded.

"What was written on the note attached to the flowers sent to Hermione in third year?" Harry asked.

"You have a great left hook. Use it more often please." I responded, garnering interested looks from my five house-mates.

"What the hell are you three thinking, coming here so soon after an attack! You should've stayed where you were and _stayed safe_." Sirius lectured, dragging them in to the kitchen for breakfast.

"We were in a tent in the woods." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "We weren't going to come at all, but we promised Lily, and Hermione recognized this locket from when we were cleaning here before fifth year." Harry pulled a locket from his pocket. It did look familiar, Sirius seemed to think so as well.

"What is that?" Daphne asked, her nose scrunched in distaste at its design.

"It's a fake of something we need…" Harry was being far to vague.

"It's a fake horcrux, there's a note inside it from whoever took the real thing."

"Oh… then the one we found that wouldn't open…"

"Would be the real horcrux." I stated.

"Do we know where it went? We put it back where it was I think."

"We threw it out on Mrs. Weasley's order because it was broken and useless… we thought."

"Of course."

"What does the note say?" I asked, why would the locket be here?

"Just that they took the real one, even though they knew they couldn't destroy it. It's signed R.A.B."

"R.A.B?" Sirius asked, his head lifting and his eyes wide. I knew why too.

"As in Regulus Arcturus Black?"

"Who?" Harry asked, I restrained the reaction I wanted to have and motioned for the three of them to follow me. Remus and Sirius looked sympathetic and crushed respectively. I showed them up to Sirius' floor. It only contained two bedrooms. Sirius' and his brother, Regulus'.

"Sirius had a brother?" Harry asked in shock.

"Yes. He was a year younger and a Slytherin. Sirius was disowned, but Regulus never had the courage to run. He became a death eater, as was expected of him, and died in 1979. Everybody thought Voldy killed him. Apparently, he didn't. Not directly anyway." Hermione looked sad and disappointed.

"I can't believe we threw it out." She muttered. An idea came to mind and stuck in my head. I did what I felt was needed and called for the Black family house elf.

"Kreature." The old elf appeared. "These three have some inquiries pertaining to a locket that belonged to your Master Regulus." Kreature's eyes lit up, as they often did when Regulus was mentioned. I left the three to figure out the mystery of the locket on their own. How were they going to find the other ones if I didn't let them find this one mostly on their own?

Kreature was gone for a few days after their conversation, and the trio stayed at Grimmauld waiting for him to bring them the information. Apparently, Kreature hadn't thrown the locket out and Mundungus had stolen it during one of the Order meetings. Why Dumbledore allowed that man anywhere near the organization was a mystery.

When Kreautre finally reappeared, he had Mundungus and Dobby with him. Harry greeted Dobby like an old friend, and basically ignored Kreature. There was quite a bit of dancing around the information before the truth came out. The six of us that lived at Grimmauld watched the interrogation in pained disappointment. These three were lost causes when it came to gathering information and I was honestly worried about the future of the Wizarding world.

The location of the locket didn't fill anybody with any sort of comfort. Umbitch had it. And she wore it on a _daily basis_. At her job at the Ministry.

Was this bitch for real?

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	40. Year 7: Part IV

The Daily Prophet arrived as it normally did, carrying the filtered news that was heavily influenced by the Death Eaters new regime. This time, though, the news it brought sent the residents of Grimmauld into a spiral of anger. It also brought some other people over.

"Do they really think that the Order is stupid enough to send them in?!" Fred yelled, his dislike of the situation plain on his face. George was vibrating in anger right next to him. Remus and Sirius were pacing and Harry and Ronald were flanking Hermione as if someone was about to come take her away from them. Hermione was staring at the table in confused pain. I stood and walked to the kettle to make some tea, like a proper British person.

"Obviously not. If they did, they wouldn't have issued what is essentially a bounty for Hermione and Lily's heads. They call it the _Muggleborn Regisrtation Act_ , but we can clearly see that it is just the _Get To Potter And Kill Him Declaration_." Daphne stated, I snorted into the kettle I was filling, Ronald glared at her.

"Calm yourself Red. She never said she agreed with the act. You need to work on your prejudices." Blaise glared at Ronald in return, stating what was on my mind. Ron needed something significant to happen in order for him to actually get past his prejudices. That wasn't likely to happen while we were all in hiding. Ergo, it wasn't likely to happen at all.

"Well, I'm still pissed about the Werewolf registration that Umbridge is implementing. Seriously! They have the most prolific one on _their side_ , what is the point in making a register and law about it? They know where he is." Tonks began to rant about all the new legislation and how happy she was that she no longer worked as an auror because upholding it would be against her better judgement. And a pain in the ass.

I drowned out the ensuing conversation, thinking about the one the trio had had the night before. They were planning a break-in at the Ministry and their plan was cobbled together and downright terrible. They went out to surveil a few employees every day, hoping to learn their routines so they could take their places for a day. That part was okay, but they didn't know what they did once they got _into_ the building, or where to find Umbitch, or how they were going to get the locket, or how to get out of the Minsitry, or basically _anything important_. It was times like this that showed they had survived mostly on dumb luck for the past six years.

"Lils?" Fred whispered, leaning closer and placing his hand on my shoulder as a way to get my attention. I jolted slightly, looking to the creased eyes of worry next to me. He gestured to the other room and held out a hand to escort me. I accepted and George followed us into the other room. Daphne caught my eye on my way out giving me a small smile. I was tempted to give her a mischievous one back, but the door was already closing the second we escaped from the room.

"So, what are you so deep in thought about?" George asked with a small frown. It was wrong that the twins didn't smile as much as they used to. If anything made me want this war over for purely selfish reasons; to see their unrestrained grins again.

"They are planning to break into the Ministry." The twins sat down and listened to me rant for a solid ten minutes about their plan and how it wasn't actually a plan. The twins were the best.

The day the trio all disappeared at the same time was the same day I told Remus and Sirius. From everything they told me, I thought they weren't planning to make a move for another little while. I had thought that I would have more time to prepare and make a new plan for them.

They left in the early morning, leaving a note that said they were going to get the horcrux. Remus and Sirius were pissed that the trio had been so stupid, Daphne and Blaise were in shock that they _could_ be that stupid. When an urgent pop alerted us to the trio's return, I dashed to the window to see the damage. All I saw was a panicked Hermione before a secondary pop had them disappearing. A man in ministry garb was left on our doorstop.

I gasped and got away from the window. Hermione had her little bag with her so the trio would be fine on their own, but we needed to get out of this place.

"Death Eater on the doorstop! We need to move!" I exclaimed, Sirius was already walking from the room, having felt the enchantment on the house break.

"Go get your things, I'll make sure he doesn't get anywhere in the house. Just like we practiced." Sirius set himself as the front line as the rest of us rushed the stairs. Remus apparated out with Tonks immediately, and the three of us rushed to every one of our rooms to grab the go-bags we had prepared for this eventuality.

"Kreature!" The elf appeared looking surprised, "We are under attack, Grimmauld is no longer safe for us. We are on our way to a secondary location, I will call you tomorrow morning. Stay out of sight until then and gather anything that we left behind that may give us away. Go." The elf left just as Daphne and Blaise reappeared with the shrunken luggage from each of their rooms and Tonks and Remus' room, I handed over mine and Sirius' bags and a portkey.

The two of them were whisked away by the portkey to the secondary location, carrying all the bags with them, only moments later. I began to send patronus' to all the other Order members letting them know that Grimmauld was no longer secure, this included Hermione, Harry, and Ronald. Finally, I rushed down to let Sirius know it was time to leave.

I was met by curses flying back and forth, a duel between Yaxly, Avery, and Sirius. Avery must have been summoned once Yaxly knew who was here.

I disillusioned myself and walked over to Sirius, readying the portkey that would bring us to a random place in France. Only when the portkey was seconds from going off did I grab Sirius, surprising him enough that his shield faltered. A spell was moments from getting to us when I felt the familiar pull in my navel. The two of us collapsed into a pile in a large vineyard in Nice.

"Everyone got out and I gave Kreature orders to get anything we missed."

"Okay. We should get to the city, get some rest."

"I knew their plan would somehow backfire on them, but I really hoped it wouldn't effect us as well."

"If you knew their plan would backfire, why on earth did you let them go through with it?"

"I didn't _let them_ do anything. I made my thoughts on it very clear and I thought I still had another _week_ to come up with a better plan. I guess not. At least none of them are dead, but I would be surprised if none of them were injured in some way. That was a hasty apparation on Hermione's part, I would bet one of them got splinched. Hopefully it wasn't Hermione, she's the only one who knows how to treat it and where the potion was stored in her bag."

"Shit. Do they have the bag?" Sirius asked with wide eyes.

"I thought I saw it on her waist and it wasn't in any of their rooms, so I would assume so."

"You looked for it?" Sirius gave me a deadpan disappointed look. I stared into his eyes as I responded.

''I had time. I was multitasking." He rolled his eyes and shifted into his dog form. I pulled a little vest from my pocket and enlarged it to put on him. I then adjusted my appearance to be blonde with exceedingly cloudy eyes, giving me the look of someone blinded in some kind of accident. It did make it harder to see, but this was the best cover we could come up with when we were making this plan. Sirius would be acting as my seeing eye dog until tomorrow, when we would make our way to Scotland and the new safehouse.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	41. Year 7: Part V

It was a cold November day, only a few days after the first snow as a matter of fact, when Sirius and Remus sent Daphne, Blaise, and I to Shell Cottage. Sirius was going into another muggle town to set wards on the houses and Remus and Tonks were going to participate in Potterwatch. Apparently I was not invited to join in either of these activities. Especially after my comments on the last Potterwatch I was on…

It was quiet when we arrived, shivering on the edge of the wards down the beach from the actual cottage. The sky was grey and the waves were crashing, setting a ambiance that I didn't know how to interpret.

We entered the wards only seconds after landing, bringing the building into view. It was quaint, its stone walls fitting in with the surrounding area and the front garden filled with slowly dying plants, none of them able to withstand the colder weather.

We walked closer and heard some voices from within. Bill's voice sounded tight, almost angry, and obviously trying to keep from yelling. Fleur's voice was dismissive, like when you're talking with someone on the other side but still trying to be pleasant. At first I thought it might be Molly that was visiting. She had that affect on the people she doesn't like; I would know.

We knocked on the door and the voices inside went silent before the door was swung open and a wand was in our faces. I saw a second set of red hair and nearly dismissed it as Molly when I noticed the length and the face it was connected to.

" _Ronald fucking Weasley_! What the _fuck_ are you doing here when I know for a fact that Harry and Hermione are _not_?!" Blaise yelled to my left, glaring at the boy with murderous contempt.

"Well, I guess that answers the security questions…" Bill muttered as Blaise pushed past and into the house, bee-lining for Ronald as Daphne tried to stop him from killing the boy. I kind of wanted to tell her it was alright, to let Blaise do what he wanted.

"What _is_ he doing here?" I whispered to the older Weasley as Blaise began ranting in Ronald's face as he tried to defend himself, pitifully at that.

"They had a fight and he ran, now he doesn't know where they are." Bill muttered through clenched teeth as he closed the door behind me. I glanced between him and his younger brother.

"They had a fight, so he left them in the middle of the forest?"

"Yes." He hissed out, his eyes getting very tight around the corners.

"What kind of person does that? I feel bad for you having to be related to him." Bill's face lost the ashamed underlying and looked at me with thankfulness.

"One who doesn't understand what they're doing and doesn't know how to control their emotions I'd wager." I smiled slightly at his comment.

"That's what he gets for not listening to me." Bill chuckled slightly at that, getting a few looks from the others in the room. Blaise had finally calmed down it seemed, and all thanks to Daphne if her haggard expression meant anything.

"I still don't see what it matters to _you_ Zabini. It's not like you're _friends_ or anything." Blaise took a deep breath, probably trying to refrain from killing the idiot.

"You're the one who seems to be obsessed with reminding us what house we're in. Loyalty is one of the Slytherin house traits. That extends past house and family, which is something you don't seem aware of." Daphne stated. I was staring at Ronald with narrowed eyes. I wasn't angry with his comment, he'd made so many of them that I was basically immune to them now, but I did take offense to it.

"Also, he's been on our side for over a year and yet you still seem to think he isn't. Anybody on our side would probably be pissed if they saw you here. Bill is and he's not friends with the other two, he's barely talked to them." I stated with annoyance. Nobody questions my brother's loyalty.

"Are you judging me? You don't have the right to judge me!"

"Yes, I am, It happens to be a hobby of mine. And I have every right to judge those that judge me." Ronald looked like he was about to explode when Remus and Tonks flooed into the living room. They both looked surprised to see Ronald sitting at the table with a murderous look aimed at me.

"What is he doing here?" Tonks asked as she looked around, as if searching for the other two. When she didn't see them her face looked distant. And angry. Definetly angry.

"Never mind that. There's a taboo on _His_ name. Don't say it or all enchantments will be broken and they will be able to find you. He's trying to get the Order, we're the only ones that use his real name." Remus sighed and flopped into a chair far away from Ronald.

"How did you find out?" Daphne asked, walking over to Tonks and giving her a once over. I did as well and noticed that her clothing was looking a little singed at the hem. My eyes widened with worry.

"We won't be able to use the safe house anymore, let's just say. Apparently the Death Munchers _don't_ like Potterwatch." Tonks muttered. I nodded, though I was slightly worried, the twins had been with them.

"Everyone else is fine. We were the last to leave, and we managed to summon your bags before we fled. Though, the only other safehouses are now at capacity. If it's alright with Bill and Fleur you three are going to be staying here. If not we're going to need to find somewhere muggle."

"They can stay with us. It is no problem." Fleur stated with a smile at us. She was fond of all three of us since we didn't treat her like a veela. Or an object. That and we all shared the weight of Molly's glares. "We have three empty rooms that can be spared."

"Wait, but where am I supposed to stay?" Ronald asked in outrage. Apparently he was under the assumption that one of those rooms was for him.

"At Aunt Muriels. That's where Mom and Dad are staying. They only dropped you off here for the day." Ronald paled and I bit my cheek to keep from grinning. Fred and George had talked at length about their Aunt Muriel. They hated her and that was a common theme in the Weasley family. None of them could stand her, and after seeing her at the wedding, I couldn't say I blamed them. I had avoided speaking to her at all costs.

"Great. We need to get back to the Tonks residence. Here are your bags. We'll come and check in from time to time, whenever its safe to do so. Try to keep practicing dueling or spells and don't do anything…"

"What?" Daphne asked with a small smile.

"Well, I was going to say to not do anything untoward and to behave, but I don't think I need to give you that speech. I will need to have a talk with Sirius when he gets to the safe house. At least he and Andromeda get along." Remus sighed and stood, heading for the floo once more, Tonks following close behind with a small laugh.

A week later the twins apparated to the edge of the wards looking a little worse for wear. I gasped when they entered the house and saw that they were covered in soot and other mysterious liquids. My first thought was an explosion in their shop, but the sad looks in their eye and their tightly clutched wands gave the impression of a duel.

"What happened to you two?" Bill asked with a raised brow as he moved to block them from sitting anywhere. They glared at their brother as they noticed what he was doing.

"We were attacked at the shop." Fred stated with a glare at the ceiling. This war was a real inconvenience for new entrepreneurs.

"Most of the stock that we had out is gone, used on them." George stated, a small smile coming to his face.

"The main floor is destroyed, but I managed to save the backroom and apartment with some pretty strong wards that none of them are getting through without being closely related to us by blood."

"We aren't reopening until after the war."

"So the… stuff… on your robes is?" Bill asked, trying to get a closer look, but not wanting to touch any of the mysterious substances. Blaise was looking a little interested too, if a little disappointed that the products he had helped create were now destroyed.

"Well, there is some soot from the wizbangs and fireworks that we set off on them…" George stated, gesturing to their entire persons.

"And some goo from various products mixing together…" Fred continued, inspecting some of the odd colored goop. I didn't think we _had_ anything that would turn that shade of green.

"I think this is love potion…" George pointed to a small patch that covered his outer robe, a look on his face that belayed his curiosity.

"And I do believe that this is the anti-grav solution… we threw the potion at them and kept the antidote for ourselves." Fred grinned at me at that one and I couldn't hold back the small laugh at the mental image.

"Well, I don't think they will want to attack you on your home turf again." Daphne stated with a small giggle. I nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, mind if we use your shower?" George asked with a small smile as Bill's face drained of color.

"Can't you use, like, _anyone_ else's?"

"Oh, but then we wouldn't be able to visit our little Lily pad for another two weeks or more!" George said theatrically as Fred headed in the direction of the bathroom. He appeared to be covered in more of the potions, probably from his lack of deflecting them as he warded the other areas of the shop. Bill groaned but didn't try to stop his brother.

"Make sure you clean up after yourselves." He said, resignation in every breath. "And _you_ don't touch anything until _after_ you shower!" He yelled as George took a step closer to the kitchen table.

Blaise, Fleur, Daphne, and I sat at the kitchen table, the radio on in the background as we silently worked on slicing vegetables for supper. Potterwatch was listing those that had died or gone missing that weren't mentioned in the Prophet. It was the saddest part of the podcast, and we sat listening in tense silence, waiting for names that we didn't want to hear. One particular name made me shoot forward in my chair, the knife falling from my hand and a frown marring my face instantly.

Missing… Luna had been captured by Death Eaters? When did they have the chance? Right, the train… damn.

"Don't worry Lily, she'll be fine. She's pureblood and, blood traitor or not, they don't want to spill _pure_ blood. Not if they think they can change her to their side anyway…" Blaise said, trying to be comforting and missing by a mile. I appreciated it none the less. Blaise, as I've learned, isn't very good with sentiment.

"Thanks Blaise, but that doesn't really help any. Luna is… very spacey. It might actually keep her alive, but her father is who they're after. I almost feel worse for him. Xeno is a great guy, but him speaking his mind is going to get him killed if he keeps it up for too much longer. I also don't know how the desperation is going to affect things. Luna is all he has left. He'd do anything for her… _anything_." I stressed, my three housemates seemed to understand what I was implying and grew worried as well. All that we had now was to wonder when we would hear news concerning him.

Bill and Fleur left to visit the Delacour's for the afternoon and had left us Ronald in exchange. I wasn't overly impressed with the situation. I would have rathered the twins if I had to choose a different sibling. Even Ginny would've been preferable.

It was doubly depressing because Bill had asked us to gather some ingredients from down the beach while he was gone. As such, now the four of us were out of the cottage's wards and far enough down the beach that we wouldn't be able to run there if Death Eaters appeared.

Ronald was ranting about his Aunt's and scorning us for staying with Bill when he wanted to instead. The three of us remained silent as he ranted from one subject to another. Apparently he didn't get to speak his mind at Muriel's because he had lost that right when he abandoned Harry and Hermione.

I wished _I_ could ban him from talking. It would be so blissfully quiet and we could get these flowers and get back to the cottage in no time. We also wouldn't have to watch over our shoulders for the people trying to kill us any longer. Such a nice dream to have.

"…I swear if I hear that I can't join the Order one more time, I'm going to do something drastic!" That was another thing. Since he had abandoned Harry in the woods because of a fight and the influence of a magical artifact, he wasn't allowed in the Order while he was around. There weren't that many meetings anymore, it was more of an information network now.

"…I mean I want to fight Voldemor-"

"NO!" The three of us shouted, showing that we were listening at least slightly.

"-t as much as you do… what?"

"You idiot!" Blaise screamed, pulling his wand from its holster and charging over to Daphne's side to fight back to back. It was just like we practiced. I sent off a patronus to Bill to let him know that his brother had just doomed us to death. Several pops sounded all around us as Death Eaters surrounded us. Blaise and Daphne both put up shields and readied themselves for a fight.

Snatchers were all over the place. I had heard of the men from Remus but this was another thing entirely. They were dirty, out for blood, and I could smell them from where I stood. They started firing stunning spells, but switched to curses after confirming that we were expendable. None of us had bounties on our heads. Blaise, Ronald, and Daphne were blood traitors, and I was just another mudblood on the run.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little mudblood who learned to distract." I shivered at that voice, Bill's blood on my hands flashing in my memory.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the puppy who Voldy house trained." I stated as I took out the snatcher I had been fighting. Greyback glared at me and began to fire spells. I parried them to the best of my ability and dodged when I couldn't.

"You're not going to survive this war girly. I will ensure that." He snarled when I managed to hit him with a slicing hex. I faintly heard a few new pops and wondered if they were helpers for us or for them.

"If I were concerned about that, I'd have brought it up months ago." I huffed under my breath, I raised my voice for a comeback. "So long as you don't, I'll die happy." I shot another, harsher, spell at the man. He yelped as it hit him, causing him to fall to his side.

I felt a hand on each of my shoulders and almost shot some spells before a growl caught my attention. I turned my head and saw both Remus and Bill standing just behind me, each with a hand on my shoulder. Remus raised a wand and apparated us further down the beach, just outside the wards of Shell Cottage, Bill being brought along.

"I would feel infinitely better if you never faced that… _being_ again." Remus stated with a growl building in his chest. Bill nodded slightly, looking more animalistic than I'd ever seen him, outside of the full moon that is. We walked past the wards after a cursory glance back to where the duel had taken place to make sure there hadn't been any tag alongs. Not that they would be able to cross Bill's expert wards.

"I'm going to kill your youngest brother." Blaise stated as soon as we entered the cottage proper. Bill looked surprised for a moment before registering what that meant and turning his glare at the boy.

He was holding three wands in his hands, most likely from snatchers he had disarmed but not disabled. Blaise had a fist sized bruise on his cheek and Daphne some hand prints on her newly bared arms proving as much.

"I need to find Harry and Hermione…" Ronald muttered, a new urgency entering his voice.

"No shit." I muttered, much to Bill's apparent amusement.

The book that Rita Skeeter released on the life of Dumbledore provided much satisfaction for me and amusement for Daphne and Blaise.

While most people worshiped the ground he walked on, Slytherins were only too aware of how power hungry and manipulative he was. Takes one to know one and all that.

While I was certain that not everything in the book was true and that some facts had been dramatized for book sales, it was a very informative read.

I knew that it would make Harry angry, wherever he and Hermione were holed up was sure to experience some destruction. Harry still worshiped Dumbledore as the best wizard there ever was. While he may have been powerful and knowledgeable, which is what that title referred to, it didn't mean that he was the best _person_. Harry would learn the distinction at some point I was sure, but _when_ is up to him.

Hermione would probably set out to debunk as much of it as she could simply because of the author. Ronald would support Harry's reaction, mostly because he was the one who gave Harry the notion that Dumbledore was infallible. Molly would anger clean and cook her frustration at the book away, seeing as how she was the one who gave the ideal to Ronald.

Gryffindors.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	42. Year 7: Part VI

It was early April, around what would normally be our Easter break, when Ronald reappeared at Shell Cottage in the middle of the night. This time he brought Harry and Hermione with him.

Unfortunately, it was in the aftermath of Hermione being tortured by Bellatrix. They also brought a dead elf, Luna, Ollivander, and a goblin with them. It was an odd, but welcomed, wake up call. Bill and Fleur started working on Hermione the second she appeared, leaving the three of us to act as host for the rest of our guests.

Blaise was stood in the doorway of the kitchen, blocking the way up to Hermione from Harry and Ronald. Daphne was at the counter making coffee and tea for everyone, and I was gathering food and some healing potions. Bill had already been through our stash and greatly depleted it for Hermione's sake. Blaise would need to make some more.

"You're looking good Lily." Luna's dreamy voice broke the tense silence that was periodically interrupted by Hermione's sobs and screams.

"Thank you Luna. I would ask how your year is going, but I think I could hazard a guess." She smiled slightly and I turned to Daphne as she placed the tea tray on the table.

"You can all relax here. I'm willing to bet that Bill and Fleur won't mind some extra guests. We can rearrange the rooms to accommodate…"

"Hermione is likely in my room, its the closest." Blaise commented with a glance behind him.

"Well… we can have Ollivander and… I'm sorry what was your name?" I asked, looking at the goblin.

"Griphook."

"Well, if you two don't mind sharing, you can take my room. Is that okay?"

"I have no issue with it. I would go home but I doubt it is safe for me at the moment." Ollivander stated with a nod, Griphook gave one as well.

"I will show you up after you're done with your tea. Harry, Dean, and Ronald, you three can share my room with Blaise. Hermione will need as much rest as she can get, so you two _aren't_ staying with her. She'll never rest if you two are there. She would be too hyper-vigilant." Daphne stated with a glare at the two boys who were about to protest.

"Were will Luna, Lily, and you sleep?" Blaise asked with a raised brow.

"Well… the couch turns into a bed, Luna and Daphne can sleep on that, and I don't mind sleeping on the floor." I stated with a small smile.

"I'm sure all three of us could fit on the pull-out." Daphne commented. "You could sleep across the bottom. You're short enough." Daphne smirked. She loved to call me short when she got the opportunity because of a comment Sirius had made while training us not long ago. I wasn't that much shorter than her, but the jokes made the mood feel lighter. It didn't mean I didn't hex Sirius for it.

"Lily!" Bill's voice echoed down the hall and I stood to follow it. When I entered the room Hermione was passed out and frail looking on the bed. Bill and Fleur were both working their magic on her. Fleur on the slur carved into her arm and Bill with pouring potions down her throat.

"You called?"

"Can you take care of the other guests for us? We're a little busy at the moment. Fleur and I can sleep on the pull-out, but if you could get everyone else situated that would be great."

"Keep your room. We've already worked it out. Hermione will stay in here on her own, the boys will share Daphne's room, Griphook and Ollivander are in my room, and us girls are on the pull-out. Focus on Hermione, we'll take care of the others."

"Thank you. Do you mind flooing the twins? They have a more experience with healing than either of us." I nodded and left the room in favor of the living room. I grabbed Blaise's bag on my way out the door, all of us still kept our things packed for safety reasons. You never know when you need to flee.

"Shell Cottage, now. Bring your healing supplies." I sent off my vulture with a flick of my wand as I re-entered the kitchen. A sparrow and a quail arrived moments later and delivered the affirmative and a five minute estimate.

"Is that my bag?" Blaise asked, holding out his arm for it.

"Yes, and this is Hermione's. Daphne, why don't you go get our stuff and put these two bags in your room. Fleur is lending Hermione some of her sleeping clothes for the time being to avoid harsh materials against sensative skin."

"Curciatis?" Daphne asked with a frown, I nodded and she reached for the bags. She disappeared up the stairs and I heard some fumbling that meant she was probably changing the bedding as well.

The floo roared to life and the twins stepped out, entering the kitchen with grim faces and bags in their hands. They looked across the amassed guests curiously.

"Blaise's room. Hermione." They nodded and left one bag with me before heading in that direction.

"Why do they get to see her and we don't?" Ronald whined with a pout.

"I would think the reason is obvious." Griphook stated with a sneer.

"Shut up, I didn't ask you." Ronald glared at the goblin, I glared at Ronald, and Blaise sighed.

"Don't speak to him like that you dolt. Don't speak to anyone like that. Better yet, don't _speak_. I'm pretty sure I already told you not to when you activated the taboo and nearly sold out our safe house because you were _running your mouth_." Ronald paled as all the guests looked at him in shock. "Besides, Griphook is right. The answer _is_ obvious." I opened the bag and began to remove the medical potion ingredients that George had thought to bring us. I placed all of them on the table, not paying attention to the stares and silence that were directed at me. Blaise stepped forward, leaving his post for the first time, to inspect the ingredients.

"Man, even when out of business they still manage to have the best supplier." Blaise stated, inspecting the haul.

"Get working Zamboni. Potions will be needed before the next battle and you're the one that always complains about it being time consuming."

"Maybe I'll just sleep in the basement with my potions. There is no way that I'll get all of them made in time otherwise. Especially if either of us wins the bet."

"Bet?" Dean asked, finally becoming curious.

"On when the final battle is going to happen. We picked by week. I picked the second to last week of April, Daphne picked the last week of June, first week of July, and Lily went with the last week of April, first week of May."

"You're betting on when the final battle is going to take place?!" Harry stared at us in dismay.

"Well, it was either that or who was going to perish. We thought this was more appropriate." I stated with a neutral expression. Everyone was looking at us in shock.

"What are you betting with?" Fred asked, appearing in the door behind us.

"Something you can't afford, my love." I stated with a playful smirk. He huffed a laugh and went over to the sink to get some water.

"You should all get some rest."

"It's dawn and there is a dead elf on the front porch." Blaise stated with such incredulity that I wanted to laugh.

"A dead elf?" Fred stopped and looked at me.

"Dobby, not Kreature. Though, I should probably call Kreature soon. He and Dobby grew close and he would want the guy to have a proper elf burial and funeral."

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, I ignored him as Daphne entered the room and handed me both of our bags.

"The beds are all made and the rooms are all ready. I also put some extra clothing in each room that should fit you all. I wasn't sure if you had any. You can all follow me, I'll show you to where you will be staying." Daphne stated, looking at all of the assembled guests. They stood to follow and Fred went back to Hermione. Harry remained seated for an extra second before following as well.

Harry approached me on the third day the trio were at shell cottage. Hermione was still out for the count, sleeping most of the day and coming to only when it was time for Fleur to change her dressings.

"Hey, Lily, can I speak to you about something? In private?" He asked, glancing at the others. I nodded and stood to lead him out of the house for a little privacy. We sat at the edge of the wards, a little ways from the house, and I waited for Harry to speak.

"We found out about Luna from her father…"

"Why did you visit Xeno?"

"There was this symbol drawn into the book Dumbledore left for Hermione. She couldn't find the translation for it and I remembered seeing it around his neck at the wedding. We went to find out what it meant. He told us that one of the stories in the book was true, the Deathly Hallows are _real_ … I know you won't believe me, Ronald and Hermione are skeptical as well, but I just have a feeling, you know?" When he finally looked at me I offered him a genuine smile.

"I wondered how long it would take you to find out about those."

"Wha- you knew?" He accused.

"Yes, I wasn't certain until the wedding, but I had a good feeling. You know Dumbledore's greed is probably what killed him?"

"Snape killed him." He replied with a harsh tone and a glare to match.

"I'm not disputing that, but why would Snape wait until there was a battle to make his attack? He had all the opportunities in the world, Malfoy too. A simple spell at the right time and Dumbledore would be gone, sure they might go to Azkaban but Voldy has already proven that the prison can't hold his followers."

"I-"

"Look, it's just a thought, I have no proof. Just think on it and if the chance arises, maybe offer the benefit of the doubt."

"Well, how did _you_ find out in the first place?" I stared at the young man beside me. He seemed desperate for some kind of plan or help, and was finally willing to ask for it if this conversation was going where I thought it was. I pulled the pendant out from under my shirt with only a little hesitation.

"You know how the twins and I were friends with the centaurs? Part of their herd actually..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, they aren't the only ones. Over the past few years the three of us have gotten close with all of the sentient creatures in the Forbidden Forest. The acromantualas, unicorns, thestrals, and the centaurs primarily. I am a lot more respected than the twins since I went there more often, so they offered me something at the end of last year. Did you end up reading all the stories in that book?"

"Most of them, why?"

"There is one that talks about the amulet of the forest. This is that amulet. They are offering their allegiance and their support in the coming battle to me. Bane gave it to me with agreement from the rest of the forest. When the time comes, I will notify them and they will come to aid us in our endeavors."

"Wow… so you figured the rest was true because that story was true?"

"Kind of. I figured there was truth in the stories, not that they were true."

"Oh… Dumbledore has the elder wand, but I think Vold- I think _He_ has it now."

"Hmm…" I watched as he fiddled with the wand in his hand, glancing around every few seconds, staying alert. Then my mind caught up with what my eyes were seeing. That was Draco's wand, not Harry's.

"Isn't that Draco Malfoy's wand?"

"Yeah, I took it off him when we were at the manor. While we were making our escape actually. It works better than the other wands I have at my disposal." My stomach fluttered, thinking of the possible outcomes for the Malfoy family, particularly the brat that had learned to keep his mouth shut the hard way. Voldemort wasn't in the habit to go easy on those who displeased him.

"So, how is your dueling going? You get any practice in while you were on the run?"

"Hermione and I did a little bit of dueling when Ron wasn't around. It's a little hard to balance the partners."

"In other words, he didn't want to and you had trouble disarming them both at the same time."

"What?"

"Oh please, I have noticed that you've coined that spell as your own and basically spam it. If you want I can teach you how to do it better than you do, almost guarantees a wand in your hand every time."

"Sure, show me your ways master." He chuckled with a false bow.

"That's _mistress_ to you. Stand up, let's do this." I stood and walked a few paces away, waiting for him to do the same. As soon as he stood, wand in hand, facing me and ready to go, I shot a spell at him.

"Hey, I thought you were teaching me how to cast expelliarmus better!" He cried out, dodging the stinging hex just in time.

"I thought this could be a double act. See how you stand up in a duel, while still teaching you some new skills. Let's go Potter!" I shot a few more spells at him and he shot some back. I had no clue how long we dueled, but when I finally managed to disarm him he was panting and the sky had gone dark.

"Well, you're better than you were last time we dueled."

"So are you." He commented as I handed him back the wand. He grinned and took it, offering his hand out for a shake. I gave him one quick slap to the back of head instead.

"Work on your dueling or you're going to get yourself killed." I said as I turned to walk away. I heard him mutter something behind me and cast a nonverbal shield, bouncing his disarming charm away like a bouncy ball off a wall. "Good idea, cast when they aren't looking. Try nonverbal next time." I yelled over my shoulder as I continued up to the house. Harry ran to catch up with me and grabbed my arm before we entered the house.

"How did you manage to befriend the creatures of the forbidden forest? I've been wondering for a while but it never seemed right to ask."

"The twins and I walked in one night with a lamp and a handful of ribbons and started to wander. We were respectful to everyone and everything we encountered and didn't treat any of them differently than we would have a human. The acromantuals were the hardest to gain the trust of and the thestrals were understandably upset since we ran into them, that was quickly explained to them since we couldn't actually _see_ where they were. The unicorns were skittish for a while." With my explanation, a thought entered my head, the remnants of a previously forgotten conversation.

"Huh, I don't think I will ever be able to see those spiders as anything but evil, considering they tried to eat me."

"Hey, Harry, how are you with transfiguration?" He seemed puzzled by the non sequitur, but curious all the same.

"Not bad, not the best."

"Hmmm, do you know how to transfigure spiders from stones?"

"I… think so?"

"And how mad are you with Ronald for abandoning you?" His eyes lit up as he caught on to what I was thinking.

"Oh, I'd say about 20 spiders worth at least."

"At least 20, huh? Well, I'm still pissed he broke the taboo while he was here, probably about 40 spiders kind of mad. What say you we go for a walk on the beach and collect some stones? I know some people that would be willing to help."

"Nothing like a bit of fresh air. A walk sounds like fun." I opened the door and peaked my head into the kitchen that was through the opening. Ronald was absent, likely sitting with Hermione. I waved Daphne and Blaise out. Fleur saw me and seemed to read my face for a clue as to what we were up to.

"Bill, I think I will take the children for a walk on the coast. I need some fresh air." Bill nodded at his wife who motioned for the other three teens to follow her. Once all seven of us were on the porch and the idea was explained, the number of stones to collect grew from 60 to 100.

Later that night a high pitched screech penetrated the air along with screams of _get them off get them off_. Harry, Dean, and Blaise could be heard laughing from their room and the living room was filled with giggles as we all broke at the idea of what was happening in the room. I was never more grateful that Fleur had had the idea to set up a camera to record when the spiders were released. I suddenly couldn't wait for morning.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**


	43. Year 7: Part VII

"I can't believe you three are actually planning on going through with this." I stated with a furrow in my brow.

"It's the only way to get the cup." Harry stated with certainty. I glanced to Hermione with a heavy dose of suspicion.

"Are you sure you're up to doing this? I mean, being her and holding the wand that hurt you? What about your injuries? You can't honestly expect this plan to work, you'll be found out at some point and will need to _be able_ to escape. You won't be doing that if you can't run. Or duel. Or move."

"Then we had better hope that all goes according to plan." Hermione stated with frown, ignoring the first half of my statement.

"Ronald is rubbing off on you. I knew I should've insisted on going with you on the run. They've finally corrupted the smart out of your brain." Hermione rolled her eyes as Ronald glared at me. Harry looked amused but determined.

"We are doing this Lily. You can't stop us on this."

"Fine. When are you doing it? I need to know when to plan the funerals for." Harry was about to respond when the floo lit up next to where I was sitting and a harried looking Remus stepped out with a megawatt grin.

"Dora gave birth." I jumped up from my spot on the floor and leapt at Remus, practically tackling him into a hug. Harry came over and patted the man on the shoulder. Just like that, the conversation changed from bank heists to babies. Theodore 'Teddy' Lupin was born in the middle of the night, a metamorphus just like his mother. He was perfectly healthy and would have Harry and Sirius as joint godfathers and me as a godmother.

The morning after next when I entered the kitchen I saw a piece of parchment on the table. I heaved a great sigh as I read it before pulling my wand and setting a small fire to make myself feel better. Bill came in moments later, his sensitized sense of smell catching the sent of something burning. I gave him to letter as he doused the fire I had lit in the sink.

"That was my mum's tea towel." He told me still half asleep. I nodded, I knew exactly whose towel it was. "Damn, I thought we'd have more time to talk them out of this."

"They told you too?"

"I caught them talking to Griphook. As much as he likes _you_ , he doesn't like the other three and isn't likely to stick to his word."

"Oh, he'll stick to his word. He'll get them into the vault. It's just the loophole of getting them out that I don't quite trust him to follow."

"Why do I get the feeling I'll be hearing of a break in at Gringotts in a few hours time?"

"Because you have common sense. Let's start breakfast, we'll need to explain to Daphne, Blaise, and Fleur at the very least." He nodded and the two of us began working in tandem to make breakfast for all the residents of the cottage.

I was suddenly hit with a feeling that we would need all the energy the food could offer us.

It was noon on the day that the trio left when we received the patronus from Fred.

 _The final battle was happening._

The occupants of the house were sitting for lunch when a sparrow flew through the window and delivered the news before dissipating into the air. The room was frozen for only moments before Bill was standing.

"Well, who all is coming with? We need to go meet up with the others." Bill stated as he walked over to the pantry to gather any healing potions that may be of use. Fleur summoned a small bag to place them in. She would probably end up helping the wounded more than fighting. I stood and went to the living room, everyone followed. We were all dressed and ready to go, but Ollivander seemed hesitant.

"Mr. Ollivander, why don't you go to the Tonks house? It will be safe there and I get the feeling the people being forced to stay behind will need someone able bodied to help them." I offered. He nodded and entered the floo first, being sent off with a mumbled word from Bill. We all shortly followed him through, arriving in Aberforth's back room. He was waiting with little patience and much disapproval on his face.

"Through that passage. You'll arrive in the Room of Requirement, the others have already begun arriving. Hurry up, more are going to be coming in behind you." We all entered the narrow passage behind the portrait and walked causiously towards the light at the other end. I thought there was some symbolism there.

As we approached, we heard more and more chatter, including Harry's voice asking for help to find something. He didn't say what it was, only that it probably belonged to Ravenclaw.

We exited behind the trio as quietly as the jump down allowed us and Luna piped up, offering information on the diadem of Ravenclaw. The conversation continued and ended with the two of them sneaking from the room and up to Ravenclaw tower. I was too busy searching the bustle of the room for twin heads of ginger hair.

I finally spotted them arguing with their mother, Ginny by their side. I walked over quickly and grabbed both their hands from behind, causing them both to jump in surprise.

"Lils!" "Lily Pad!" came the twin exclamations at my appearance before I was engulfed in their arms and breathing got very difficult. Molly continued to argue with Ginny about how she was too young to fight and I rolled my eyes. So what if she wasn't of age, Molly hadn't had any problems sending her to a school run by Death Eaters.

"Breathing. Important." I squeaked as my arms practically flailed for purchase somewhere. They both released me with unrepentant grins on their faces.

Suddenly I was engulfed again, this time from two different sets of arms from behind. I jumped in surprise, causing the arms to tighten behind me. I knew it was Sirius and Remus from the sight of scars and tattoos on both sets. They let me go of their own volition and circled to stand in front of me on either side of the twins. I noticed all four looking around the room and that it had gone quite quiet while I was being attacked in hugs. Daphne and Blaise were both standing just off to the side of the four men, looking very amused, but distinctly uncomfortable in the room of people who hated them.

I spun around to see the shocked faces of the many people in the room. Neville and Seamus were both looking very confused, but not as much as the others in the room. Cho looked downright pissed and the other Gryffindors in the room were looking on in shock or glaring at Blaise and Daphne. A few people were looking at Sirius and Remus in shock and I couldn't exactly blame them. They'd just watched their ex-professor and the ex-con hug the stone-faced-bitch from Slytherin.

"Well, fun as this whole staring game is, I have some things to prepare for the massive battle that's about to occur. Considering how it is very likely many of you will die, I wish you all luck. Those of you who were in the DA, now would be the time that you should take the advice that I gave you to heart. It may just save your lives." I focused my eyes on Neville. "You. Is there any way I can sneak out of the castle and to the grounds without being caught?"

"Ummm… not without being caught, no."

"Hmmm… Fred, George, what say you to some good old fashioned sneaking off into the forest?"

"We say-"

"That it sounds like fun-"

"But, we'd rather all three of us stayed alive-"

"So we think it would be better to stay here." Many shocked eyes moved to the twins as I rolled my eyes at them.

"You mean you want me to stay here and be safe because you don't want me risking my life."

"Yes."

"We have no shame admitting that."

"And we will help to keep you here." Remus stated with a raised brow.

"All of us will." Sirius stated, indicating Blaise and Daphne to his side. Both were nodding along.

"I hate to admit it, but you are the slightest bit reckless at times." Blaise stated with a sheepish smile.

"I am not."

"You went into the _Forbidden_ Forest on your _own_ at least once a week for six years." Fred pointed out.

"You fought Greyback on your own." Ronald commented.

"Twice." Remus added with a frown.

"You decided the best way to learn new shield spells was to cast spells at a mirror and try them." Sirius stated.

"You helped and fostered a relationship with the twins while in Slytherin house where you would've been outed as a traitor if the information had surfaced." Daphne pointed out.

"You tried to volunteer to rescue Harry." Blaise raised a hand weakly as he spoke.

"You tried to keep the fact that Malfoy was threatening you from everyone." Hermione said with a small smirk.

"You also antagonize people for fun to see how long it takes for them to get angry." George was grinning by this point and I was glaring at everyone.

"Then there was the whole thing at the Department of Mysteries where you saved Sirius despite the possibility of getting killed." Luna stated from near the door next to Harry.

"You also decided the best way to teach us dueling was having the entire DA fight you two at a time." Harry commented.

"OKAY! I get it! I'm a _little_ reckless, but I refuse to be called out by _you_ , Potter. You say _I'm_ reckless but you and your friends are three times worse than I am." He nodded in to that. I pulled my wand and took my amulet out from under my shirt. I cast the patronus spell and the gem shone a bright blue as it absorbed it. The light flared out, as if a moving blue barrier had been pushed from my position, and disappeared through the walls.

Many things happened after that; a summons for all students to report to the Great Hall being one of those things. The Slytherins were sent to the dugeons after Pansy made an idiotic comment. Snape fled and toke out _both_ Carrows on his way, not that many people recognized that he had likely done it on purpose. Troops were organized into some semblance of order. I followed the group heading towards the bridge, lead by Neville and Seamus. I needed to get to the edge of the forest to meet the creatures when they arrived and it was better to travel in packs.

I split off from them and tried to ignore the process they went through to ready the bridge full of explosives. I stood at the tree line with my wand out in case Death Eaters were stationed nearby or had made it through the defenses of the castle.

"Lily Moon, we meet again." A voice sounded to my right and I turned to see a herd of acromantulas waiting in the wings. I nodded to the one that had spoken, respectful to the new leader of their colony.

"I assume you are aware why I summoned you?"

"We are, we will wait for our cue to enter the fray."

"As will we." Bane stated as he trotted forward, leading his tribe to the tree line, bows at the ready. I nodded to the man in thanks and looked over his shoulder to see unicorns and thestrals lining up behind them. Further back I could see various other creatures that were native to the forest approaching as well.

"You're cue will come in the form of a swarm of Death Eaters entering the grounds. I have a piece of business to attend to in the castle before I begin to fight, but I need you to protect the students. They are still evacuating and I would be grateful if you could take the focus off them by drawing it to yourselves or the older wizards and witches."

"I believe I can take care of leading them into battle." Frienze stated from behind me, having approached from the castle. "Fred and George told me to find you and help to lead the forest in their attack. They told me the battle plans and I can pass the knowledge to all of those willing to fight."

"Thank you. Please, be safe. You don't need to fight if you don't want to, but I do ask that you don't kill anyone on my side. Stick to killing those in the long black robes, with the exception of Severus Snape."

"Snape?" Frienze asked.

"Like you told me, Dumbledore was already dying. You really think the old coot wouldn't have had some kind of contingency plan to further the war efforts?"

"She has a point. We will defer to your instructions." Bane stated with a nod. I nodded back and turned to make my way back to the castle. I was about to take off when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to face Bane.

"Perhaps you should consider a faster mode of travel." He tilted his head to indicate the many creatures rallied behind him. I smiled and turned to them.

"Is anyone willing to offer me a ride?" A unicorn and a thestral both stepped forward along with several centaurs. Typically too proud to offer to carry a witch, I was surprised but accepting of their help. I accepted the offer from one of the centaurs, having a good idea for after I had arrived at the castle. He helped me mount his back and I thanked him.

"To the castle please, I need to get to the dungeons before the battle and I need you to bring me all the way if you could."

"Of course, Lady Moon." I gasped slightly at the title as the centaur rushed forward. We turned many heads as we galloped into the castle. Some were confused, others curious, but I didn't stop for any reason. I patted the centaurs shoulders when we approached a place we needed to turn and we made it to the dungeons in no time. The Slytherins were being guarded by a few seventh year Ravenclaws who all turned to me in surprise when I arrived.

"Thank you for the ride, Bromus." I said as I slid from his back.

"Anything for a Lady such as yourself." I smiled at him and turned to the shocked students.

"Anybody under the age of 16 or who does not wish to fight in the upcoming battle is to follow Bromus and those two Ravenclaws to the evacuation tunnels." When only first, second, and third year students moved I glared at the members from my house. "Move! Now! When I say you should do something, I am not saying it for the faint of heart. If you wish to keep your lives you _will_ move now."

"Maybe we should just kill you instead. After all, it's not like your life is worth much, Mudblood."

"What makes you think your life is worth any more than mine? You think I would _hesitate_ in killing you Parkinson?"

"What makes you think your life is worth _anything at all_?" She responded.

"Everyone evacuate. Now." A voice spoke from the back of the crowd. Everyone scrambled to comply. Soon enough it was only Draco remaining. I knew some were going to join the fight against me and that many would just leave. I also knew that some would be fighting for their own gain, but for the light non the less.

"Man, I wish I could clear a room that quickly." He smiled slightly.

"Told you the world was going to hell."

"And I never doubted that for a second. Though I suppose I'm less of a mystery now."

"True." We lapsed into silence, but neither of us moved to join the fight that was no doubt about to take place. The ground shook and I knew that the Death Eaters were attacking the wards surrounding the castle. We were quickly running out of time.

"Have you made your decision yet?" He looked at me with wide eyes and a scrunched brow.

"I think my tattoo makes it fairly obvious what side I'm on."

"No, it shows that you protected your mother. That you are under the rule of a maniacal ruler that doesn't deserve the loyalty he holds. It shows strength, but it doesn't show what side you are on."

"Even if I fought against everything I was taught to believe, I would still end up in Azkaban. What's the point in fighting at all if it would still lead to death by someone's hand?"

"So that, when you go, you can _honestly_ say that you fought for what you believed in, not what you were told to do. I think you already know what side you're on, but that you're too scared to admit it."

"I'm not scared!"

"There's nothing wrong with being scared. I'm terrified. Everyone I see as family, everyone I love, might be about to die. I don't want to lose them. I don't care if I need to kill, I'm not scared of violence or of dying. I'm scared of losing everything. I think you are as well. But you need to remember, family isn't only blood. I never had a family until I met the Weasley twins. Maybe Daphne, Blaise, and I could be a start for a family for you."

"They wouldn't accept me. They wouldn't forgive me for what I've done, nobody would."

"They've known you since you were kids. They _already_ forgive you. And… you'd be surprised what people will forgive. People have a large capacity to surprise you, embrace those surprises _when_ they come." The sounds of spells and explosions sounded from above us and I looked up as dust fell from the ceiling.

"I-"

"It's not safe down here. We should get out of here."

"I've picked a side. You were right when you said there weren't two sides in this war. You did forget one when you said that though…" I looked at him in surprise, wondering what he meant. "There's always _your_ side. And that is where I'm throwing my loyalty." My eyes widened as he motioned me forward. I nodded and the two of us began to run from the dungeons. We exited the staircase just in time to watch it cave in under us. I gasped for breath and placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"Do me a favor? Make sure they bury me with both middle fingers up. I want to make a statement." I grinned at the man as I began to fire spells at the closest dark cloaked figure. Three others went to engage me as well but found themselves receiving fire from Draco.

The two of us took two Death Eaters each, tossing jibes, jokes, and outrageous requests back and forth the whole time. I couldn't help but think that I liked this Draco much better than the boy I went to school with for six years.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Sorry for the long break between updates, I've been a bit busy with classes. The battle has begun and we're down to about 20,000 words left.**


	44. Year 7: Part VIII

Eventually Draco and I ended up near the entrance to the evacuation tunnels. There were still a few stragglers making their way from the castle, mostly older students that had allowed the first through fourth years to leave first. This is where the two of us split up; Draco stayed to fight any encroaching Death Eaters with Bromus and I went to find where people needed my aid.

On my way through the castle I encountered Ginny being pinned by three Death Eaters all on her own.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, hoping for the spell to be more powerful than my nonverbal casting. Two of the three Death Eater's wands flew into my hand and Ginny quickly dispatched of the third one. I shot stunners at the other two and walked over to her.

"Where have you been? The twins have been looking for you since the Centaurs started their attack." She stated as I healed the cut that was bleeding on her arm.

"I had some things to take care of concerning the Slytherins. The dungeon caved in just after we made it out. I hope it was empty, but there was no time to check. Shouldn't you be holed up in the Room of Requirement?"

"What's it to you? If I want to fight than I will fight. I don't see you stopping Luna."

"Fine, but you need to stay close to me for the time being."

"Why?"

"I promised the twins that I would look out for you. That's what I plan on doing. Even if the circumstances aren't what he was talking about. Besides, its better to have some back up in a battle of this size." She remained silent, but followed when I began to walk back towards the main corridors where most of the fighting would be taking place. Instead of entering the main corridor we were forced to exit the castle through a hole in the wall when the hall in front of us was proven to be caved in too far for us to pass.

We both jumped and landed in the courtyard just in time to see a small body fall to the ground under the weight of a curse and a Death Eater take off into the air, presumably to get another victim.

"Colin!" Ginny rushed forward to the boy, who I now recognized as Colin Creevey, and I shot a quick petrificus at the Death Eater, likely sending him plummeting to his death on the grounds below. I rushed after the ginger and kneel down on the far side of the boy and assess his injuries.

They were bad. Blood was seeping out and staining his clothing at an alarming rate near his shoulder. Ginny was panicking and casting stasis charms, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Do you know where they are rounding up the injured?" I asked her.

"The Great Hall, Madam Pomphrey was setting up there with Fleur and a few others when I ran by."

"Do you think you can get him there on your own without being seen?" She looked at me in shock, but nodded. I lifted my hand to the pendant around my neck and pulled the necklace off. I untangled one of the thestral hairs from where I had wrapped it around the leather. It didn't have the same healing properties as a unicorn hair, but it would help to stave off death until someone could get some potions into the boy. I wrapped the hair around his shoulder, anchoring it to the opposite side of his neck, and spelled it into place. He was small enough that I didn't think Ginny would have any issues carrying him, but I cast a feather light charm on the boy to make the journey easier.

"What is that?"

"Thestral hair, it should help until he can be seen to. Get him to the Great Hall and _don't get caught_. I need to find the twins. If you see Draco Malfoy, don't fire on him. He's on our side, spread the word."

"Great Hall, don't get caught, Malfoy good, got it." She picked up the boy and turned to run towards the medical triage center. I hoped I hadn't sent her to her death. The twins would never forgive me.

I stood and ran, casting spells to help where I could and stunning or slicing Death Eaters that had left me an opening to do so. One good thing was that there weren't many good duelists on their side, especially good when you consider that most of the people on our side were children with a spotty history in defensive magic.

I spotted ginger hair on the grounds through a hole in the castle wall and recognized it as Charlie, leading some dragons and dragon tamers into battle. I also saw Bill fighting Avery and Nott Sr. off to the side as I ran through one corridor. Remus, Sirius, and Tonks were running up to the Astronomy Tower with a determination that seemed to have spread throughout the castle.

Finally, I spotted three ginger heads and Lee Jordan guarding a secret passageway tunnel up ahead and ran forward to join them and spread the word. I also saw three girls running in the opposite direction that I was certain were Katie, Angelina, and Alicia. I was almost there when Puis Thicknesse was unveiled and Percy, the third weasley at the wall, made some kind of quip before sending Thicknesse flying.

"You're joking Perce! I don't think I've ever heard you joke before!" Fred was laughing at Percy while he was fighting, but one of the Death Eaters the three had previously dispatched was waking up. I ran faster, trying to get in range to knock the man out, but I wasn't going to get there in time.

"Fred! Watch out!" I shouted. Not a second later the Death Eater, Rockwell, had sent a curse towards Fred, missing and blowing up the wall behind them. I skidded to a stop to avoid getting hurt in the ensuing cascade of stone and rubble.

The dust cleared and I saw George stand up on the far side of the blast zone, casting spells at the remaining Death Eaters while screaming for his brothers. Everything sounded like it was underwater as I watched the rubble. Percy scrambled to stand, pushing a large chunk of stone from his arm where it had landed. He was staring at the pile in horror, or rather at the head that was sticking out of it.

"FRED!" He screamed, running over and trying to get the rubble off his younger brother. George had dispatched of the Death Eaters and rushed to help as well. I saw another Death Eater approaching and sent a _bombardus_ at him before he could even land. He was sent flying from the hole in the castle wall and into a swarm of acromantulas who set to work on him. I turned away to help the two brothers. They had finally managed to remove the rubble from on top of him, but he was out cold and bleeding from many different cuts.

I was already pulling my pendant from my neck as I ran over to them, tripping myself on the rocks in order to get closer. Percy helped me scramble closer when he saw me struggling to navigate the rocks, my eyes set only on Fred.

"Fred…" I whispered, placing a hand on his cheek and the other to his neck to check his pulse. I heard a clip-clop of hooves approach and George explain what had happened to the centaur that had approached. I unwound one of the precious unicorn hairs that had been gifted to me and turned to Percy. "Help me? I need him to swallow this." I said, holding up the hair for him to see. He nodded and leaned over to open Fred's mouth for the hair. I coiled it up and placed it on his tongue. George cast a weak augmenti to send some water down his throat.

"We still need to get him to the Medi-witches." Percy whispered as I forced the swallowing reflex in his throat.

"I can take him." The centaur, Liliana, I now realized, offered.

"I will come with, help to defend you both." George stated.

"Me too." Percy stated.

"No. You stay and fight with Lily. This passage is blocked now, but we still need every fighter possible to defend the rest of the castle." Geroge stated as he and Percy carefully lifted Fred onto Liliana's back. Percy frowned but nodded.

"Stay safe George." Percy stated. I ran forward and grabbed George's wrist.

"Bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity. I know you aren't stupid, so don't be brave. Be alert and smart. Draco switched sides, spread the word." I let go of his wrist and he nodded at me. The three rushed off in the opposite direction of the rubble and in a roundabout route to the Great Hall. I turned to Percy who was watching them go with great worry etched on his face.

"Where are we going?" He asked, breaking himself from his trace and focusing on me. I looked up at him and thought for a moment. Where were we going? My goal had been to find the twins after freeing the Slytherin's from the dungeons.

"The Astronomy Tower? I saw Remus, Sirius, and Tonks headed in that direction. They might need help." He nodded and the two of us clambered back over the rubble and back in the direction I had come from. We raced down the hallway that had seemed so long only moments before, but was now rather short to get to the end of. We cast on and disabled Death Eaters the whole way, helping as much as we could as we ran past. Neither of us had the courage to look at the faces on the bodies littering the floor as we ran around them.

We scaled the stairs quickly and arrived just in time to see Remus go down as he was fighting to protect a downed Tonks. Sirius was still holding his own against three Death Eaters, but the one that had downed Remus was advancing on the two. Tonks, who was still awake, fired on the mountain of a man, trying to down him or delay him. Percy and I both raised our wands at the man and cast simultaneous spells. The man was sent flying off the catwalk and went crashing down the tower below.

Percy rushed over to help Sirius, who was being cornered, and I went to help Remus and Tonks. I would not let their newborn son become an orphan so soon. I knelt next to Remus, him being the more injured of the two, and looked at Tonks to assess her injuries. She had a large gash that was gushing blood on her thigh. I pulled a strand of thestral hair off my necklace and handed it to her.

"Make yourself a tourniquet to slow the bleeding, and then wrap this around the center of the gash." She cast a spell that made a splint on her arm and tore at it to make a make-shift tourniquet and did as I said as I cast a diagnostic spells at Remus. He had no visible injuries, but he was knocked out and that hadn't been a stunner or petrificus that had been sent at him.

The results floated above his body and my jaw dropped. Tonks made a whining sound as she too read the results. I debated for less than a second before pulling my other unicorn hair from my necklace and opening his mouth. Percy and Sirius came over, both swearing slightly at the results that were still hovering above Remus. Sirius went over to help and comfort Tonks while Percy helped me repeat on Remus what I had done to Fred.

"God, who would even use a spell like that?" Sirius muttered, referring to the affects that the spell had left behind. It had basically caused lacerations on most of his internal organs and caused him immense internal bleeding. After forcing him to swallow I looked up to speak to Sirius and ask how we were getting them down to the Great Hall.

Suddenly, a voice entered my head. I looked around to see that the others were wincing at the sound of the voice as well and guessed Voldemort was projecting it to everyone in the castle. He ended his little speech by telling us to hand over Harry, and giving us an hour to care for our dead and decide our fate. I knew then that my next move was to find Harry.

"Can you two get these two to the Great Hall?" Percy and Sirius both looked at me with narrowed eyes. Tonks was also looking at me, but in anger at me implying she needed help. I raised a brow and she conceded.

"We can, but where do you think you're going?" Sirius asked, already moving to take Remus as Percy moved to help Tonks stand. Sirius was stronger than Percy so it only made sense for him to take the heavier of the two. Tonks could still walk so long as she had help.

"I need to find Harry. I think I can help him. I'm also going to be on the look out for anybody else whose injured or for any Death Eaters that are disobeying their master and staying behind to fight." Sirius reluctantly nodded.

"If Remus asks, you ran off before I could stop you."

"If anybody asks, that's what happened. Check on Fred for me? And Colin Creevey, I sent him there with Ginny before I went to find the twins, which was just before I came up here. Also, if you see Draco, don't fire. He's on our side now, so if he's hurt, help him. I left him at the evacuation tunnels to help protect the students who were still fleeing after we escaped and evacuated the dungeons before it collapsed."

"Well, haven't you been busy today." Tonks muttered.

"We all have been." I countered as I moved to help support her down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, the four of them went in the direction of the Great Hall as I began to make my way to Dumbledore's office. I figured that was my best bet for finding Harry. He'd always looked to Dumbledore to guidance. Why not now when trying to decide if he should sacrifice his life for the greater good?

When I reached the entrance to his office, the gargoyle was damaged and lying on its side and the staircase was already at the top. I decided to wait at the bottom for the boy to emerge. No need to climb all those stairs when I knew he'd be coming down them soon enough.

As I sat to wait and rest my muscles after all the fighting and running I had been doing, I began to think. Harry had mentioned that he thought Voldy had made seven horcruxes. There was the diary that had been destroyed in second year, the one that had brought him back in fourth year, the ring that Dumbledore had destroyed, the locket from the cave, the cup from Bellabitches vault, the diadem that had been hidden here at Hogwarts, and the snake.

Something about the horcruxes rankled on my nerves. Voldemort had made seven for its powerful magical properties, so after destroying one to bring him back, wouldn't he have made another to replace it? They were bits of his soul, he would know if any were destroyed. For some reason I didn't think that he had made another one since he was so hell bent on finding the Deathly Hallows. Why would making a seventh horcrux not have been his first priority?

Unless…

Unless he already had seven when he was resurrected…

No. He wouldn't have made eight before he died. That wouldn't have fit with his ceremonial seven of power.

Unless…

I heard footsteps descend the stairs behind me and turned my head to see a pale and lost looking Harry descending behind me. I stood and stared at him with dread in the pit of my stomach. He looked into my eyes and my mask must have slipped because he looked down and nodded ever so slightly.

Unless he already had seven when he was resurrected and didn't take into account that he had just destroyed one and so he should've had six. He wouldn't have made one if he already had seven. Coming back from the dead and losing the one you wanted to kill most was disorienting and chaotic, it must have slipped from his thoughts. Plus with a broken soul he had to be a little lost in the head.

"I'm a-"

"I know. I just figured it out." We remained silent as he sat down next to me.

"The prophecy makes sense now. Neither can live while the other survives. I need to die for him to be mortal, for him to be killed. And Dumbledore _knew_ from the beginning." I put an arm around his shoulder.

"You're going to go out there, aren't you?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"You're going to try to stop me aren't you?" He returned, tilting his head to rest against my shoulder.

"No." I replied, "You're an adult, you can make your own choices. Besides, I doubt you'd listen to anything I'd have to say."

"Am I doing the right thing."

"There's the right thing to do, then what you're going to do." I paused to look at him. I sat up and he turned to face me as I did the same. Now we were facing each other, leaning against the walls of the stairwell. I sighed at the look on his face and decided to change my tune. "The truth is that there is never a right or wrong thing to do. Only what's best in each situation."

"I need to die. The best way to do that is to sacrifice myself. It gives everyone a fighting chance that way."

"You know he won't stick to his word, right?"

"I know, but I can still hope."

"I want to go with you."

"You can't. I need to do this alone." I looked down with a frown, but nodded to him. That much I understood.

"There's still a chance you can make it out alive." He looked at me in shock. Curiosity swam in his eyes as he motioned for me to go on. I pulled the pendant off my neck once more and removed the final thestral hair that rested on it. I gave him the amulet and he looked at it curiously.

"What-"

"Wear that. There's only a chance, but if the story is true, it might help. He summoned you to the forest, that is the amulet of the forest. It represents all the life that resides inside and offers the wearer the protection of the life within. Maybe… maybe it will give you the strength to do the impossible a second time."

"If I survive, he won't be mortal."

"Won't he? It protects the life of the wearer, not the souls trapped inside. The first killing curse put his soul into your head, maybe the second will kill that soul." Harry looked dubious, but put it on.

"I thought you weren't one to believe in luck and heroes."

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." I muttered with a smile. He smiled as well.

"You need to learn the rules of the game. And then you need to play better than anyone else because mercy is pretty thing, but it won't get you anywhere." He responded with a grin. "There are no heroes in real life, there are no villains either. There is no black and white or good versus evil, only shades of grey and people with different agendas. Nothing is ever clear cut, life would be easy if it was. If you spend your time in battle hoping for someone to save you, well, you'll end up dead and cold in the ground."

"I think I may have went against my own advice. I've already saved more lives today than I've taken. I've been more of a hero than a warrior."

"Well, Gringotts wasn't that well guarded so I think your feelings coming into play is alright." I laughed at him. "You know I think the one thing that stuck with me after learning from you was when you said 'Blood does not make family. People make family.'" We both remained silent for a few moments more before Harry sighed.

"You should find Hermione and Ronald. Say goodbye, just in case." He nodded and stood, stretching out an arm to help me up as well.

"You were right about Snape." I looked at him in surprise. "He's the reason I found out the truth. I tried to save him, but I think he wanted to die. He gave me his memories. He's helped us in his own twisted way over the years. He was always on our side."

"Draco is on our side as well. Spread the word? I don't want him in Azkaban for protecting his mother." Harry looked shocked but nodded.

"I'll tell Hermione and Ron, and anyone else I stop to talk to."

"I should start looking for the injured and get them to the Great Hall. That would be a good place to look by the way. Make-shift med bay." He nodded and took off in that direction. I paused to collect myself before walking down a different corridor, looking for bodies, both alive and dead. This floor seemed mostly clear of people, only a few injured people that were trapped in a classroom, but could get themselves down to the Medi-witches on their own.

Suddenly I heard a voice coming from up ahead. It was whisper yelling, but not casting. Curious and paranoid, I pulled my wand, crouched down low, and approached the sounds of two voices that were up ahead. I recognized one voice as one of the Death Eaters that had been at the Battle in fifth year at the Ministry, and the other as Draco. I sped up, looking in classrooms and trying to locate the two men. I saw a flash up ahead, followed by a grunt, and jumped to hide in an alcove as the figure of Rabastan Lestrange turned the corner just in front of me. As soon as he passed the alcove I stepped out and cast a nonverbal stunner and imobulus. He was stunned and hog tied in seconds and I ran around the corner to see the state he had left Draco in.

Draco was on the floor holding his stomach where a dagger appeared to be sticking out of him. I rushed forward and knelt next to him, he looked up sharply, likely expecting more fighting, but relaxed when he saw me.

"Oh, you're still alive." He muttered as I pushed his shoulders to gently recline him to rest on his back.

"Don't sound so disappointed, I might think you don't like me." I said back as I peeled his hand away from the edges of the dagger. "What happened?" I asked, inspecting the blade. It had no handle. I was a diamond shape, and sunk into Draco's stomach to the widest part. There way no way for me to pull it out without slicing my hands open.

"It's a spell he created. Makes these daggers and sends them flying at the opponent. I blocked the other two the spell created, but this one got past my shield." I nodded and inspected the wound closer. It wasn't bleeding too much, but that may have to do with the blade blocking the blood flow.

"Do you think it hit anything important?" I asked, trying to keep him talking.

"I wouldn't really know, what with it being embedded in my body. I also was never trained in healing. That's only taught to pureblood women, men learn dueling." I nodded.

"I remember reading about that in my research."

"So, the rumors were true? You're muggleborn?"

"Umhm. I'm going to cast a numbing charm on the area, otherwise what I'm about to do is going to hurt. A lot." He looked a little nervous at that, but kept his hands away and stayed as still as possible for me to cast the spell. Once numbed, I unwrapped the final thestral hair from around my wrist where I had wrapped it after giving the amulet to Harry. I wrapped the middle section around the blade and then anchored the blade to his body by having Draco sit up and allowing me to tie it off behind his back. I was lucky the hair was as long as it was, otherwise this would never had worked. As it was, I only used the hair because it would stem the bleeding and not break or slip.

"Glad I can't feel any of this, I get the feeling it would hurt a lot." He smirked at me, repeating my words from a few moments ago.

"It would. It would also hurt very much to get you to stand and walk to the Great Hall." I told him with an apologetic glance.

"Oh god…" He muttered as he caught my meaning. He swallowed his pride enough to allow me to support him in order for us to walk. The progress was slow since I needed to make sure the sharp blade didn't wiggle around too much as we walked, but we made it to the Great Hall relatively quickly.

I helped Draco sit on one of the cots that had been laid out and stood to summon someone to help. Luckily Fleur had seen me enter and rushed over to help. Once she saw the blade she had Draco lay down and began to work quickly, seeing how deep it went and if it hit anything important before pulling the thing from him with a pair of clamps of some kind. He winced in pain as it came out, and drank all the potions Fleur shoved at him as she applied dittany to the wound. Blaise and Daphne were at my side moments later.

"What happened?!" Blaise stated as he inspected his childhood friend. He looked banged up and dirty, but relatively unharmed. Daphne had bandages wrapped around her arm, but also looked unharmed.

"Go, we'll stay with him. You have other people to check on if Sirius is to be believed." I nodded to Daphne and gave one last glance at Draco before walking off. He would be fine and probably back to fighting after the intermission. He was a Slytherin, and brave or not, we were typically quite stubborn.

I checked on Colin first, he was awake and talking to his brother, Dennis, when I approached.

"How are you doing?" I asked as I checked him over for injuries.

"He's fine, and he has you to thank if Ginny is to be believed. Thank you." Dennis answered with a small thankful grin.

"No problem. I hope you both _stay_ okay. I need to go check on a few others, but I'll see you both around."

"Of course. Thank you for saving me." Colin stated. I nodded and offered a smile of my own before searching out the Weasley clan. Fleur had still been working on healing others so I doubted any of them were dead, but I needed to see it with my own eyes. I ended up finding Sirius first. He was sitting with Remus, who was still unconscious, and Tonks.

"How is he?" I asked, kneeling down next to Tonks on his left side.

"He'll live, but he was injured badly. You saved his life, that's for sure. Pomphrey has done all she can for now, and he's not out of the woods yet, but he'll live. I know it." Tonks stated as she clutched his hand tightly in hers.

"And you?"

"All better. I'm going to be fighting after the hours up, but until then I'm not leaving his side." Sirius nodded in agreement.

"Percy went back to fight and ended up with a broken nose, but he's fine as well. The Weasleys are all over there." Sirius nodded in the direction of the back corner of the hall and I turned to see a group of red heads crouched around each other. "You should go and check on them." I nodded and stood to investigate.

I ran into Hermione halfway there and we approached together. Fred was lying on the ground and George was clutching his hand, but the steady rise and fall of Fred's chest told me he was still alive. Everyone turned to see us once we got close.

"Thank god you two are okay." Arthur stated, checking us both over for injuries. I smiled at the man slightly as I inspected all the Weasleys for myself. Ginny seemed uninjured, but covered in dirt, Charlie had a few gashes on his arms that were trickling blood, Bill had a cut on his forehead, and Percy had dried blood on his face from the broken nose. George was the same as he was when he left me earlier and Fred was covered in bandages from all the cuts he got from the rubble. Molly seemed completely unharmed, having probably staying to help Pomphrey. Ronald and Hermione both had cuts all over and their faces seemed a little lost, but both were still standing.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, inching closer to the twins, but trying not to intrude on the family.

"Everyone is fine. How about you? I've heard that you were acting as a field medic more than a warrior today." Bill stated as he looked me up and down.

"I'm fine."

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen you since you left the Room of Requirement. Where have you been?" Charlie asked, stepping out of the way and offering me his place at Fred's head.

"Well, I went to the forest to round up some support, and then I had Bromus, one of the centaurs, bring me to where they had the Slytherin's in the dungeons. I evacuated them with the help of Draco and the two of us ran out and escaped just in time for the roof to cave in. We dueled a few Death Eaters and then made our way to the evacuation point. I left Draco and Bromus there to defend the fleeing students from attacks. Then I went off in search of the twins, but ran into Ginny fighting three Death Eaters on her own instead. I helped her out and told her to stick with me. We were making our way to the main corridors when we came across Colin Creevey just as he went down. I shot a Death Eater out of the sky and helped to stabilize Colin before sending Ginny here with him.

"Then I went after the twins again and cast some spells to help out on my way. I saw the wall explode, shot another Death Eater out of the air, and helped to stabilize Fred before sending him and George here with Liliana. Percy and I made our way up to the Astronomy Tower to help Sirius, Remus, and Tonks because I saw them run up there while looking for the twins. We took down the one who down Remus and Tonks and Percy went to help Sirius while I stabilized Remus and Tonks. They all came here and I went to find Harry at Dumbledore's office. We talked for a few minutes before I sent him to meet up with Hermione and Ronald and I went to look for injured people. I found a group trapped in a classroom and then I found Draco. Now I'm here."

"Well, you've been busy." Bill muttered. I nodded and stroked Fred's hair, taking comfort in the rise and fall of his chest. George reached his free hand out for me and I laced my fingers with his.

"I'm all out of miracles now. I really hope none of you get gravely injured during the second half." They all nodded in understanding, likely having heard that I had used thestral and unicorn hairs to save the ones I had. We sat in silence for a long while, I watched over their heads as more and more people were brought into the hall, some injured, some dead, some just barely holding onto life. It hurt to know that some of these people were my age or younger, but I buried that deep for now. Fred remained motionlessness and I only rose when I heard a commotion outside.

The hour was up.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. I saved Fred... Viva la Fred-olution?**


	45. Year 7: Part IX

A crowd was gathered outside and I fought my way towards the front, ending up on the front line next to Draco, Daphne, and Blaise. I stared at the Death Eaters across the courtyard from us and felt my breath catch when I saw Hagrid carrying a limp Harry in his arms. Voldemort was standing in the middle, ahead of everyone else, his snake, the final horcrux, slithering at his feet.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Ginny screamed and tried to race forward, but was held back by her father.

"Stupid girl. Harry Potter, is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith in _me_." The battle field was silent for a few moments. Everyone was mourning the death of their savior, but I looked to my fellow Slytherins. They looked at me and frowned. We didn't believe him to be a _savior_ , we had no reason to stop fighting like everyone else seemed to.

I looked farther over and noticed George standing by, staring across the field at the assembled Death Eaters. I knew his mind was going into overdrive, waiting for the chance to decimate the opposing forces. Voldemort turned his back on our side and began to walk towards his army.

"Harry Potter is dead!" He yelled, garnering cheers and laughs from his followers. He let out a laugh of his own before turning back to our ever growing masses. "And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us." He held his arms out wide, nobody moved. "Or die." He added with a glare. Still, nobody moved.

"Draco." Lucius Malfoy beckoned his son forward. I turned to look at him. He remained still, staring at the opposition across the field.

"Draco… come." His mother said with a soft, but firm, voice. He turned his head to meet my eyes. I nodded at him. This was his chance, his decision. This was what it all came down to. He moved to step forward, but stopped, standing just ahead of out front line. Still standing close enough to us to make his alliances known.

"However vast the darkness, we must create our own light. We must make our own choices." He stated, looking at his mother, and ignoring his father entirely.

"What?" Voldemort hissed, staring at the son of his most faithful follower.

"In simpleton language." Blaise began, stepping forward to stand next to Draco.

"Get fucked." Daphne and I stated with grins as we stepped up to flank the men on either side. There were assorted gasps from the opposition and laughter from our side. I heard George and Sirius bark a laugh.

"Hell yeah!" Tonks shouted. I notice Neville limping forward in my peripheral and raised my wand to the so called leader of the dark. I cast three spells in quick succession and the final one managed to actually do damage to Voldemort. He was now focused on our foursome.

The other three raised their wands as well, getting ready to fire at the man when a commotion began. Harry had rolled himself from Hagrid's arms, apparently still alive, and cast a confringo on the snake. Voldemort turned to cast on Harry, and Neville used the distraction to pull the sword of Gryffindor from the sorting hat and slice the head off the snake in one clean slice. This sent Voldemort to his knees with a cry of pain and sent the battle into a frenzy once more.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy advanced on the four of us as I continued to fire in all directions even as Harry engaged Voldemort for their final confrontation.

"We have this. Go!" Blaise stated as he motioned over to Hermione and Ginny fighting side by side. I nodded and ran off to join them on the outskirts of the room we had retreated into. I watched as the three Slytherin's engaged in a battle against Lucius as Narcissa tried to stop him with words. Just as I reached the two girls I watched Narcissa down her husband and join the trio in defending themselves against the other Death Eaters.

I joined in their fight and we got rid of the Death Eaters that were flooding into the room, holding the line and making sure none of them made it to the Great Hall where we were still treating the injured. Suddenly a blast came from our left and I managed to block the spell just in time. The three of us found ourselves in a duel against Bellatrix. We only traded a few spells before Molly was sweeping in and taking the duel out of our hands.

"Not my daughters too you bitch." She growled as she shot some spells of her own. I watched in shock as the woman managed to gain the upper hand and kill the vile woman. She turned to us to make sure all three of us were okay. Hermione was shaking but looked as if a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders and Ginny looked shocked at seeing her mother kill someone like that.

A large boom from the center of the courtyard drew everyone's attention. Harry and Voldemort were locked in a duel, their spells meeting in the middle before flaring off. Everybody paused their battles to watch the final showdown. I cast some sneaky spells here and there to take down some Death Eaters while they were unaware and I saw a few others doing so as well.

"You know why that wand won't work for you, Tom?" Harry asked, "Because it doesn't belong to you." I tuned out most of the specifics as he explained Snape's allegiance but then he said something that caught my attention. "See the wand chooses the wizard. When you killed Snape, he wasn't the owner of the wand. He killed Dumbledore, but he didn't defeat him. Draco defeated Dumbledore."

"Then I shall kill him and be the wands master."

"But you see, that won't work either. See, he was the wands master until about 20 days ago, when _I_ disarmed Draco." Voldemort glared at the boy across from him and Harry grinned back.

"Then it will be of no consequence since I'm going to kill you." Voldemort raised his wand to cast on Harry, but I realized something. Harry seemed to realize it at the same time I did, because his eyes widened.

"But I'm _not_ the master of the wand." He stated with a little shock in his voice. Voldemort paused in confusion, and it seemed many others did as well. Nobody remembered Harry getting disarmed, and not many thought it was possible for the G _reat Harry Potter_ to be disarmed by anyone other than a Death Eater.

"I am." I stated as I stepped forward, my wand raised and a smirk on my lips. "I disarmed Harry during dueling practice. _I'm_ the wands master." I saw George and Sirius standing across the way making motions for me to back up and get out of firing range. Harry, too, was looking at me in shock. I glanced at him, my face completely open for once, showing him a face that no doubt showed how stupid I thought he was acting. I was acting as the perfect distraction, the perfect pot-shot was open.

Voldemort raised his wand in my direction a twisted grin mangling his features. I took a deep breath in and was ready to accept my death. Voldemort shot the spell off and many people screamed and went to run forward, not that they would make it in time.

The green tinge told everyone what spell had been cast. I threw my wand to Harry at the last second, disarming myself in his favor and giving the wand a new master.

I saw him drop the one he was using and catch mine before I felt something hit me, hard, in the side. I was sent toppling to the ground even as a mirror was erected, sending the spell back at it's caster. Voldemort waved his wand to refract the spell, sending it into a Death Eater that stood a little too close.

I looked up to see Draco glaring at me, obviously having been the one to tackle me. I turned my head behind me to see Blaise with a similar expression and Daphne and Narcissa standing behind him shaking their heads. I grinned and couldn't help the small snicker that escaped.

"I knew you loved me." I muttered to Draco. He sighed and rolled to his feet.

"You are by far the most reckless person I have ever met." George stated as he and Sirius finally reached our side. I looked at them with innocent eyes, neither were buying it.

A large boom brought us all back to reality.

We turned to see the spells meet again, both sides fighting for dominance. I rolled to my feet, ignoring the protest my shoulder was making from the harsh landing, and grabbed the closest wand to me, which just so happened to be Blaise's.

"Avis!" I yelled, sending a flock of birds at Voldemort. It distracted him just long enough for Harry to get the shot he needed. Seconds later Voldemort slumped to the ground, finally dead. I handed Blaise his wand back as silence rounded the battlefield, shortly followed by cheers and flashes of spells as the last of the Death Eaters were stunned before they could flee.

We had won, but now we needed to take care of the injured and gather the dead.

Harry rushed over to me first and engulfed me in a hug, muttering his thanks over and over. Once we separated, he gave me back my wand before being pulled away by the masses.

"Never scare me like that again." George muttered as he pulled me into his arms. Sirius joined the hug, muttering something about giving him grey hairs.

We had won the battle.

We had won the war.

Now we just needed to survive the aftermath.

I sat, staring at the formerly magnificent castle up ahead of me. It had been beautiful, just like the books my parents had sent me for when I entered this world had described. Now the grey stone structure that had seemed so strong, was cracked, broken, blown up, scorched, and covered in red. The grounds were no longer lush and green but torn and destroyed.

The people that sat next to me on the rubble seemed just as disenchanted as I was that this monument had been brought to its knees. None of us tried to hide the pain we felt now that the battle was over. We were all sore, injured, and scarred.

I looked to my left and watched a man with platinum blond hair talk with two other men, one with ginger hair and the other black hair. They were talking amiably, though none were friends. There were two other gingers present this time, both were talking to the woman who had untamable hair, the same one who flaunted her knowledge to show that she fit in.

I turned my head to my right and saw that same blonde girl with brown eyes looking at me, calculating eyes looking me up and down. Beside her was a young Italian man, also watching me.

I smiled at them and they returned the weak attempt. She nodded at me in approval at what she saw before turning to talk with the Italian and the older gentleman who seemed rather out of place with the younger adults surrounding him. He didn't seem to mind, just happy that he was finally free.

I turned forward once more, watching as people wearing uniforms from all the houses worked together to restore the castle.

Houses. They didn't matter as much as people thought they did. They were just titles and, in the end, titles didn't save you, no matter how feared the title may be.

"You all should get off your lazy arses and get back to work!" A voice called out, bringing our attention over to the eldest Weasley child. Bill was grinning and beckoning us all over. I grinned and jumped from my spot to help; I was working in the grounds near the forest and on Hagrid's hut. Break time was over. George, Draco, and Ginny followed me over, waiting for instruction.

My family had all made it through the war, and I had as well. It was a good feeling, knowing that, when I made it back to Grimmauld, Remus, Tonks, and Fred would all be waiting for me with little Teddy Tonks.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Well, that's the end of the story. All that's left is the epilogue. It isn't necessary that you read that and it will heavily feature the Fred/George/Lily pairing.**


	46. Epilogue

Sometimes things happen whether you like it or not.

That's fate.

Destiny… destiny is something different.

Destiny is what you _set out_ to do, not what _happens_ despite your most ardent efforts.

 **1985-5 years old**

"Come on Lily, let's get you dressed for the party." My nanny said as she held up a poofy dress that I crinkled my nose at in distaste. I hated these dresses. They were poofy and stiff and uncomfortable. I much preferred my overalls, they let me play freely.

"I don't wanna go to the party." I replied, offering my biggest puppy dog eyes. The nanny, Veronica, smiled at me. She didn't give in though. I liked Veronica, she was younger than the last nanny I had. She was also nicer.

We were a half hour late for the party. Veronica was fired the next day.

I tried not to get attached to people. They always left in the end.

 **1987-7 years old**

"Have a nice week Lily. Your father and I will be back for the New Years Ball." My mother stated as she handed her bags over to the driver. They were leaving me for the Christmas holiday.

At least I had a few of the staff members to keep me company.

The staff didn't work on Christmas day.

It was okay I was used to being alone.

 **1989-9 years old**

"Come on Lily, play the game with us!" Amilia whined from her seat next to me. I didn't understand why the other girls were so obsessed with planning their weddings. We were only nine. What was the point?

"Why would I want to wear a big, poofy ball gown and waltz down the aisle in front of hundreds of people just to marry some guy? Besides, its not like I know who I want to marry. I'll plan my wedding when I get there." The other girls looked confused and angry.

"Fine." They turned their nose up at me and moved to sit in another part of the cafeteria.

Who wanted to get married and spend their lives relying on another person? It sounded exhausting.

 **1990-10 years old**

It had happened again. Over the years these little incidents had happened more and more. Usually whenever I was alone and feeling lonely or sad, or if I was angry at one of the many dresses my mother had the maids leave out for me to stuff myself into.

It was one of those times. I stared at the pink monstrosity laid out on my bed and glared at it, wishing it would just catch on fire. Suddenly, it did exactly that. I gasped and leapt away, wishing the fire away. Sure enough, the fire went out, leaving a ruined dress behind.

This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. I had changed my hair to blonde one day. I had also made things disappear and made things fly across the room to me when I wanted them. There was even one memorable instance when I forced a boy who was bullying me to the ground and rendered him mute for 10 minutes. I just wanted him to shut up.

It was terrifying, but I knew better than to bring it up to my parents. My problems were my own.

 **1991-11 years old**

I was a witch. That…actually explained a lot.

I asked the dour man a series of questions, ignoring the disbelieving faces of my parents on the couch. Neither had believed the man at first, but he had proven it true by turning the coffee cup into a bat.

After the man had left my parents had me sit in the armchair across from them. They looked a little skeptical and a lot disapproving. I suddenly had the feeling I wouldn't be going to this school like I wanted to.

"We can't send you to this school. What would we tell the press?" My father stated, grabbing a drink and shaking his head.

"Tell them what you like, I'm going to that school." I stated, standing up for myself in front of my parents for the first time. I stood up for myself to the nannies and the other kids at my school, but I'd never done it to my parents, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Lily,"

"No. I don't belong in this world. I belong to that one. I have no control over the powers that I possess. With time it would just get dangerous. You _need_ to send me to this school."

"I… she has a point…" My mother conceded, looking into my fathers eyes.

"Fine, say we send you to this school… what about the holidays and parties that you would end up missing?"

"Nobody would really miss me at the parties, its not like I do much other than sit on the sidelines. Let's be honest, we haven't spent any holidays together since I was 6. I will come home for the summers and that is all. You could send me with the driver and send him to pick me up as well. You don't even need to set foot in the Wizarding District either. Professor Snape told us he'd take me. All _you_ need to do is let me use my trust fund and give me permission to go." They remained silent for a few moments before nodding, agreeing to let me go.

The next week I went to Diagon Ally with Severus Snape and got everything I would need for my first year at Hogwarts, sparing no expense to make myself comfortable, including buying a few extra books. I spent the rest of summer reading those books and preparing myself for the upcoming school year.

That was the day I chose _myself_ over my _duty_.

 **1991-11 years old**

I was a proud Slytherin, but even I needed to get away from my housemates sometimes. They were so annoying and seemed to have found ways to find me no matter where I ventured. I was storming through the castle, deciding to keep moving to avoid being talked to. I was in an empty corridor when a heard a loud boom from a classroom down the hall.

I approached slowly and recognized it as the one the twins had taken me to a few weeks ago. I remembered them offering me an open invitation to join them, and I had to admit I was curious about what they were up to.

I stood at the door, my hand on the knob, but couldn't make myself open it. I retracted my hand and raised it to knock instead. It went silent inside before two curious voices called for me to enter.

As I slid into the classroom I noticed the disarray it was in. I inspected the room closely. There were two couches pushed against one wall and a large table with cauldrons and other potion ingredients set up on it in the center of the room. Unfortunately the immediate area and the twins, who stood in front of one of the cauldrons, were covered in an orange goop of some kind. I stood, eyes wide, staring at the scene for a few moments.

"What kind of harebrained schemes have you two come up with now?" I asked, forgetting myself as I inched closer to the mess, trying to look at the parchment laid out on the table. They looked at each other before glancing at me.

"Well, we had an idea for a potion…"

"It would be really funny if we could figure out how to stabilize it." I blinked at them and wondered what they wanted the potion to do. I had reached the table now and leaned over to look at the parchment that was resting closest to them, making sure to keep myself clear of the goop.

"You're using too many newt's eyes." I stated as I read over the ingredient list. They both froze and looked at their recipe for a moment before pulling another piece of parchment and a quill closer to them and doing some calculations. They turned to look at me as one once they were finished.

"How did you catch that?" They asked in unison, both pouting at not catching the error themselves.

"We just finished learning about stabilizing agents in potions. Also I did a little extra reading."

"Hmm…"

"We might need to keep you…"

"You're just as smart as Granger…"

"Only you seem like you have a wicked side…"

"That decides it."

"We're keeping you."

"I'm not a person to be kept." I glared at both of them, they raised their hands in surrender, grinning all the while.

"This will be a beautiful partnership." For some reason, I found myself agreeing with that sentiment. Silently.

For the first time since I was a child, I got attached.

 **1992-12 years old**

I wandered into the forest on a day in late February, dressed in warm clothing to fight off the chill from the Scotland winter. I had no destination in mind, but ended up at the centaur camp anyways. Ronan made his way over to me, him having been resting after a night of patrol.

"Hello Lily, are you here alone?" He asked, glancing behind me for the twins. I nodded to him and he gestured me towards the camp fire in the center of the settlement.

"They wont talk to me." I muttered some time later.

"They told me about what happened. If it makes you feel better, I think they feel sorry for what they implied."

"They weren't wrong though, were they? I'm a Slytherin for a reason."

"Tell me why _you_ think you are a Slytherin."

"I don't like to get involved in the strife of others, I have self-preservation and ambitions, even if they are rather non-specific. I like to be self-sufficient." I shrugged slightly, weren't those qualities the same that bad people shared?

"And yet you help the camp whenever you find the opportunity. You've made friends and allies with most of this forest, and you came here when feeling isolated. That doesn't scream self-sufficient. If anything it sounds like you care about others from afar. You don't want the spotlight to be focused on you, so you hide yourself from the world, working in the background and helping where you can."

"I…"

"You will do great things Lily Moon. Of that I am certain." Ronan left me to warm in front of the fire on my own.

Soon enough I stood to walk back to the castle. Maybe… maybe I didn't need to be on my own to be safe. Allies could be nice, friends might be even better.

I had friends in the twins… I wasn't alone in the world like I used to be.

 **1998-18 years old**

The Burrow was a state of chaos for the big party Molly was hosting in honor of the war ending. I stood on the sidelines and watched as she herded her children to do her bidding in a frantic manner before the party was set to begin.

It was, primarily, a dinner (feast), and the kitchen and dining table wasn't big enough for everyone who would be in attendance. As such, the Weasley's were setting up in the garden outside, several tables would be set and food would be served buffet style. Every member of the Order and DA were invited and told to bring friends.

The Malfoys (Narcissa and Draco) would be coming, as would Neville and Luna. Blaise and Daphne were inside helping to greet people at the floo (hiding from Molly) and Sirius was fawning over Teddy in the orchard while Tonks and Fleur were subjected to helping in the kitchen. Bill and Ginny were assembling and setting tables, respectively, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Charlie were charming the area with wards and lights for the evening.

"Lily! Why aren't you helping!" Charlie called from the far side of the garden. I waved slightly and grinned. Molly hadn't assigned Remus, the twins, or I a task for some reason. Fred and Remus were understandable considering their recovery was still ongoing, but George and I were surprised.

George had stole off to speak with Remus almost immediately. Fred had told me to come out and watch the prep from the sidelines, and to try and cause a little mischief in the process. I was doing them proud. I had already set three chairs, which I knew to belong to Ron, Charlie, and Bill, to collapse under their weight. I had also charmed the lights to go strobe at 8 p.m. and for the tables to wonder off after dinner was over. I thought they would be proud.

"Because I don't want to!" I called back. I heard Sirius' baby talk approaching from behind and turned to see him emerging from the orchard with little Teddy.

"Do you know where Tonks is?" He asked, gesturing to the baby that was starting to look fussy.

"Kitchen. Molly has her _peeling_ various items at the table. Remus should be in there too." He nodded and walked toward the house, holding the baby close. I wondered if this was what he was like with Harry too.

"That's not an excuse." Charlie stated, now standing in front of me.

"I'm acting as the manager. Just making sure none of you cause any mischief of any kind."

"Yeah… _right_ …" He drawled before going back to work before his mother caught him slacking. Arthur and Percy entered the garden, obviously just getting back from the Ministry, with Oliver Wood in tow. They spotted me standing off to the side and came to join me in order to avoid joining in on the work.

"Hello Lily." Percy said with a small smile. "Do you know Oliver?" He asked.

"I've heard plenty about you over the years from my housemates, nothing good, but I don't think we've ever actually met." I held out my hand for him and he shook it, squinting and trying to place me. "Lily Moon." I introduced, his eyes widened slightly in understanding before he offered me a smile in return.

"Oliver Wood. I've heard lots about you, as well, from various Weasleys." I smiled and looked at Percy. "I think Percy's accounts were the nicest behind the twins. Charlie seems to think you're insane, Bill is in a similar boat, and Ron and Ginny aren't your biggest fans."

"Well, I aim to _dis_ please." I said with a chuckle. He laughed and nodded.

"Oliver has gone to school with all of the Weasley brothers for at least a year." I nodded and looked between the men with scrutiny for a few moments.

"DAD! MOM WANTS YOU TO HELP PUT THE WARDS UP!" Ginny called from across the garden. Arthur sighed and left to offer aid.

"Congratulations on your relationship. I'm assuming your family doesn't know about it yet?" I asked Percy, who was now looking very shocked. Oliver's jaw had dropped.

"How-"

"I don't think anybody else will pick up on it. Well, nobody in your family. Daphne, Blaise, Draco, and Narcissa might but that's just because they're Slytherins. We're observant." They both nodded.

"We're going to tell them soon. We just aren't ready yet. It's still a fairly new development."

"I understand. I didn't tell people I was muggleborn for six years. I can keep a secret." I assured the two of them. They laughed and all three of us turned to greet George as he approached.

"Hello Lily Pad."

"How long do you plan on calling me that?"

"For as long as I want. Cause any mischief yet?" He asked glancing around the area as if he would be able to spot it.

"A little. Nothing that can be traced to me. How about you?"

"Fred and I have planted the seeds, now we just need to wait for the plants to grow."

"Should we be worried?" Oliver asked with a smile. Percy was looking very cautious and scared.

"Nope. Well, actually… maybe. Just be careful." Percy winced and nodded.

"Fred and I were wondering if you wanted to join us in spreading some laughter. We have something big in mind for later."

"I think I would rather be surprised. I'll leave it to you both. I have something big planned of my own." George grinned, gave me a quick kiss, and ran off to join his twin in the house.

"You're dating George?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"Nope. I'm dating the twins." He nodded in understanding and the topic was dropped as Molly beckoned both boys into the house and I got back to work.

Later, after much laughter was had and the tables were caught and the lights had stopped flashing, fireworks lit the sky. At first it was tame, but soon enough curse words and other interesting things filled the sky. Everyone was laughing their heads off at the twins antics. I guessed this was what George had been talking about earlier.

I glanced over to the edges of the garden where the ward lines were while everyone else was focused on the fireworks or, in Molly's case, yelling at the twins. Only moments after the fireworks ended, while the merriment was still fresh, I subtly cast shield charms on Teddy, Narcissa, Arthur, and Molly. Moments later, mere seconds after I put one on myself, the wards exploded inwards, showering all the guests not shielded in a goop-like substance that caused mass panic as it expanded on contact with a person, engulfing them in the slime.

"What the hell is this?!" Sirius yelled, glaring at the twins.

"Don't look at us, we didn't do this!" Fred yelped under the heavy stares from the assembled guests.

"Hey, boys, remember when you thought of adapting the failed patronus spell, with the maggots, into something with slime? I figured it out! Surprise!" Everyone turned to me in surprise. The twins were frozen in shock for a moment before turning to look at each other. They seemed to have an entire discussion between them before both raised their wands to clear themselves of the goop. I had made it easy to dispel for this use, considering it was a test run.

They each raised their wands towards the house and mumbled something. Each waited a moment before rushing towards me and falling to their knees and holding out their hands, palms up.

" _Marry us_?!" They both chimed in unison as rings appeared in each of their hands, landing from an accio they had presumably cast. In Fred's hand was a plastic ring that had a sucker attacked to it in place of a gem. In George's hand was a white gold ring with three gems, a green jade gemstone was the center piece and on either side were black diamonds. I gaped at the twins.

"Are you… are you serious right now?" I whispered, shock all over my face. The twins had been asking me to marry them since I was in first year, but this was the first time with a ring. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

"For once in our lives, we are _very_ serious." George stated with a smile.

"Besides, who _wouldn't_ want to marry you?" Fred continued.

"I wouldn't." I heard a voice to my left mutter. Seconds later I head a grunt of pain from the same direction.

"I will…" I whispered, probably too quiet for them to actually hear me.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I quite caught that." Fred had a massive grin on his face, telling me very well that he had indeed heard my response.

"Yes, could you repeat that, but much, _much_ louder? Sorry Lily Pad, I'm hard of hearing, missing an ear you see." George was grinning as well. I rolled my eyes at these two.

"Actually, on second thought…"

"NO!" They both yelped.

"You already said yes!" George grabbed my left hand and slipped the ring on my finger.

"No take backs! You're stuck with us now." Fred grabbed my right hand and placed the candy ring on my other ring finger. I laughed as they both stood and pulled me into a hug.

I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with these morons.

 **1999-19 years old**

My wedding day came with a bang. Probably due to the fireworks the twins set off outside my window, but that was neither here nor there. Seconds later my bed was dog piled by Daphne and Hermione. I glared at both of them and turned my head further to see Blaise leaning in my doorway.

The twins hadn't been able to agree on two best men and had ended up with three. Percy, Bill, and Charlie were going to be standing by them up at the alter, they had agreed on Percy but couldn't choose between Bill and Charlie. I had ended up telling them to ask both and I would find a third person to be my final bridesmaid.

I had already asked Daphne and Hermione to be my bridesmaids, but I hadn't wanted to ask Ginny to be my third and I had no clue who was going to be my maid of honor. I had almost asked Fleur, but I had decided to ask Blaise instead. He had glared, but ultimately agreed on the condition that he wasn't wearing a dress.

Now all three of them were urging me out of bed to get ready for the ceremony. Blaise had brought up breakfast for me to munch on as we chatted, and then it was time to do my hair and make-up.

Hours later, when it was time for me to slip into my dress, I stared at it for a few moments. I had always thought I wouldn't want to put on a poofy dress and waltz down the aisle.

I still didn't really want to. Poofy dresses and me did _not_ agree. But I wasn't opposed to waltzing down the aisle. My dress was strapless, and lacy with a flared skirt that went to mid-calf. It wasn't white, I would not look good in white. Instead it was a mint green.

My bridesmaids were both wearing royal blue dresses, and Blaise wore a suit in the same color. The twins would each be wearing tuxes with dark purple (George) and magenta (Fred) shirts. No amount of pleading would get them to pick better colors.

Eventually we settled on making the entire wedding a catastrophe. It would be horribly mismatched and have cursing fireworks exploding all during the reception. I was looking forward to what the twins had come up with where those were concerned.

When I walked down the aisle to meet the twins I smiled at the gobsmacked expressions on their faces. They knew they were lucky to have me and I knew I was just as lucky to have them.

When it came time for the vows the twins surprised me with theirs. The plan had been to write our own one liners to be delivered at the alter. We had also made a pact that there would be no joking during the ceremony (mostly for Molly's sake). I delivered mine, bringing tears to the eyes of those who'd heard my whispered words, and waited for their responses.

"We love you and we will never abandon you." The twins chimed in unison, apparently deciding to forgo the individual vows and make one together.

Sometimes someone comes into your life so unexpectedly, and takes your heart by surprise. It can change your life forever.

The twins were my change _and_ my forever. If there happened to be some mini Weasley's running around in a few years… well, I didn't need to deal with them on my own, I had my twin pranksters.

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. That's it, that's all folks. For those of you who read the entire story, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it.**


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